Trent Barrett

Temora schoolboy sensation boarded at renowned rugby league nursery, St Gregory’s College Campbelltown, before being signed by Steelers coach Graham Murray in 1993. Barrett, who was a champion five-eighth in the making, made his first grade debut in 1996 and representing NSW just nine months later. When the club merged with St George in 1999 Barrett moved to halfback to accommodate Anthony Mundine. After the disappointing loss to Melbourne in the grand final, and Mundine’s eventual departure from the club, Barrett claimed the pivot role as his own. Despite being unable to break NSW’s victorious halfback combination of Brad Fittler and Brett Kimmorley in 2000, he was named the ‘Dally M’ Player of the Year and was chosen in Australia’s World Cup squad. Barrett was a try-scorer from the interchange bench in the World Cup final win over NZ. The following year he made his Test debut against NZ in July, before playing against Papua New Guinea as a warm up to the Kangaroo Tour. Barrett played in all three Tests of the shortened tour, staking his claim as the finest five-eighth in the world with his two tries in Australia’s 28-8 victory in the deciding Third Test. He seemed to lose form in 2002 as his club struggled for consistency but that did not stop him from representing NSW in the drawn State of origin series that year or Australasia in the record 64-10 thrashing of Great Britain in Sydney and the 32-24 win over NZ in October. Injuries in 2003-04 saw him miss rep duty – and severely restrict his club’s title aspirations – before he made a stunning comeback in the deciding match of the 2004 State of Origin series as halfback. Barrett represented NSW and Australia in 2005 but he bore the brunt of fan and media criticism following the Dragons’ disappointing show in the qualifying final that year. In 2006 he announced that he would see out his career with English club Wigan but after a lengthy suspension for a high shot on a Knights opponent (after a Channel 9 editor sent the League tape of the unseen incident) Barrett had to be content with another final loss as his Australian swansong.