#928 John Barnes

Over two stints at Essendon, John Barnes, Bomber number 928, certainly left his imprint on the fabric of the Essendon Football Club. When the Bombers took all before them in 2000, Barnes was a vital ingredient in the tight bond shared by the premiership team. In his first period at Windy Hill, Barnes managed just 12 games across four seasons (1987-90), before he was traded to Geelong for Sean Denham. At the Cattery, Barnes' athletisicm and endurance came to the fore as he helped drive the team into three Grand Finals (1992, 1994-95)—all losses—before falling out of favour with coach Gary Ayres. At the end of 1999, Barnes was offered a lifeline by Kevin Sheedy to return to Essendon, where he joined forces with ruckman Steve Alessio and played a further 46 games (2000-01), including two more Grand Finals. In all, Barnes—one of the great larrikins of the game—played 202 AFL games and also represented Victoria.

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Go Bombers!