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“Giddaaaay Mate!” This might seem a bit enthusiastic, as an introduction, for some – especially if you are meeting someone for the first time – but not for Berrick Barnes.
‘Barnsey’ is so exuberant in his welcome to anyone, friends or strangers, that it has become a feature of the pre-Test Wallaby jersey presentation ritual for a string of ‘G’day mates’ to echo around the room from his chuckling team-mates when Barnes is summoned to accept his guernsey.
But that’s the out-going, friendly and stress-free outlook on life of Berrick Barnes, perhaps reflecting his country upbringing in Kingaroy in inland Queensland.
Unless, that is, you are talking about his rugby.
For much of his playing career, Barnes has struggled to live up to the hype others have placed around him.
Possibly, fingers crossed, until now!
In sport, as in life, timing is everything.
Barnes might have got his just about perfect.
It’s not so much what he has done on the field for the Waratahs since his return from a hand injury, but the stress-free way in which he has done it, looking ahead to a Lions series he is going to be a key factor in.
Whether he plays flyhalf, inside centre or fullback; a confident, and relaxed, Barnes will offer a playmaking capacity, sure defence, safety under the high ball, as well as organisational skills to help some potentially more inexperienced players around him (think Israel Folau, Joe Tomane, Christian Leali’ifano).
After getting injured in his first game of the year, against the Cheetahs, Barnes resumed a few weeks ago after the Tahs got back from South Africa.
Such is the importance he has so quickly assumed since his resumption, it was not coincidental that the Tahs lost control last Friday night against the Rebels after he had been withdrawn from the contest.
In the absence of the authority he had been bringing, the Rebels sensed an opportunity, regained the initiative, and went on to make history with the Rebels’ maiden Super Rugby win over the Waratahs.
The assertiveness Barnes showed in Melbourne backed up three crucial try-scoring plays (one a score, the other two assists); which turned defeat into success when NSW had previously beaten the Stormers and Brumbies in consecutive weeks.
In each of those instances Barnes was instinctive; his decision making clear.
That might seem relatively straightforward but it’s not, especially in the case of Barnes.
Being a nice guy has weighed him down enormously: marketers jumped on him as the fresh-faced ‘pin up’ boy for their campaigns; the media doted on him as a friendly source of easy quotes, while the public expectation proved too tough for him to live up to.
The image this cultivated even saw Berrick become the object of a fan so devoted she appears at just about every team public appearance or training in which Barnsey features resplendent in her Berrick Barnes named and numbered jersey.
Although it’s not quite ‘Fatal Attraction’, such sustained attention would unnerve most, but not Berrick Barnes who is incredibly kind and understanding in the way he deals with the girl.
But that’s Barnsey; nothing’s a problem off the field and everything is a cup half full!
If you manage to have Barnsey say a bad word about you, it’s some achievement!
Unfortunately the desire to be everything to everyone has hurt him on the field: expectations, and especially those placed as high as they have been around Barnsey, can be hard to live up to.
Captaincy, at both the Reds and with the midweek Wallabies, didn’t suit.
Nor did being the lead backline focal point around which the whole team’s game was run, until last year’s Wallaby season.
He ended that at fullback, and did well, after excelling from flyhalf during the mid-year clean sweep of Wales, where the use of two playmakers, to take a lot of the decision making pressure off him, worked a treat.
Undoubtedly that contributed, both last year and potentially this one, to the best rugby of Barnsey’s career.
So too, I suspect, has a combination of 50-Tests of experience and a stable set up in his personal affairs.
Now comfortably married; the Barnsey ‘take’ on life changed subtly but significantly since the birth of his first son Archie last June.
The whole world heard about how the Sydney birth was followed by a dash back to Melbourne later that afternoon to steer the Wallabies to the series-clinching win over Wales that night.
But the impact of Archie’s arrival, and the change in the Berrick Barnes mind-set, has gone long beyond his first evening as a dad.
Suddenly the game isn’t the ‘be all’ in his world, and it is showing.
The new found freedom has been added to by the decision he and his wife Bec made to quit Australia for a stint in Japan at year’s end.
Rather than stressing in his game, which is easy to pick up: he kicks too much; Barnsey is playing like he is really enjoying himself, and making the most of the time he has left.
He knows what he wants to do when he has the ball and is organising the guys around him with clear and direct instructions.
Most importantly, he is being decisive on the field in clutch situations.
This is a great sign.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.