Tom Barrass is arguably Hawthorn's most valuable player nowadays; not their best or most influential in wins, but when he's not there it is plainly obvious how much the team needs him. His early hamstring injury in the away loss to Fremantle was followed by two more losses in the next four, then two wins on the trot on his return. As with the arrival of Brian Lake to herald the Hawks' threepeat, Barrass has brought an essential calmness to their back six, delivering the fist of justice to high floaters inside 50 instead of giving up cheap marks to oppo goalscorers.
Tom Barrass is arguably Hawthorn's most valuable player nowadays; not their best or most influential in wins, but when he's not there it is plainly obvious how much the team needs him. His early hamstring injury in the away loss to Fremantle was followed by two more losses in the next four, then two wins on the trot on his return. As with the arrival of Brian Lake to herald the Hawks' threepeat, Barrass has brought an essential calmness to their back six, delivering the fist of justice to high floaters inside 50 instead of giving up cheap marks to oppo goalscorers.
Tom Barrass cemented his role last year as the first-choice full back for the West Coast Eagles, and his fantasy value is purely as a spot start in draft leagues when other, more lucrative options have been closed off to you. In the classic tall defender template, he can post startable scores when the team wants to slow down its attacks by kicking across their defensive line in order to open up holes inside 50. West Coast can tend to do that at times when they want to halt opposition momentum, though today against the lowly Hawks may not be one of those times.
Don't cross Barrass line
Apart from a midseason foot injury which could possibly be blamed on the hard Perth surface, Tom Barrass put in another solid year in the seniors mostly focused on stopping opposing key forwards. He had foot surgery in December. Barrass has a high mark base but more than half of his disposals come from marks, making him a highly unreliable start for fantasy. Try not to get sucked in by his random good weeks.
Barrass is Mister Dustpan
After a freak back injury cleaning up at home in the bye week, Tom Barrass switched forward in his first two games upon his return in round 19, then reverted to his old full back role on the way to the flag last year. The retirement of Eric Mackenzie cements Barrass's job security as an Eagle bookend, if fit. His role starts and stays too deep for him to be useful for fantasy purposes.
Worries for Barrass
Fresh off unseating Eric Mackenzie from the Eagles defence in 2016, Tom Barrass failed to capitalise with some poor form last season. Jeremy McGovern's move forward saved his senior spot even though Mackenzie returned after the bye. Barrass might be looking over his shoulder in preseason training as McGovern may well return to defence with the Eagles improving their forward stocks though returns from injury. Fantasy coaches don't care much given his lack of scoring, though.
