Best of luck to him

He favourited my tweet. I'm gona get todays date tattooed on my heart. The day Baz acknowledged me. Is anyone else tearing up?

Absolutely the very best of luck to Barrie in all he does. At last we had a forward that was respected and no one took any liberty's. Again a few years ago bumped into him in France when he was a bit merry and he was great fun, especially how such a big guy could fall and bounce back up in one movement. Class, thanks for all the memories Baz

Best wis he's for the future Barrie

Loved watching him play. A Leeds legend.

I like the new role e's going into though see the irony that Barrie will be looking after player welfare after spending much of his playing days doing exactly the opposite (on thee pitch) -)

Good job he has the sky income to fall back on - I cannot see of they will make much out of this. RL players are not on anything like the money Jermain Defoe is on. This service has to be aimed at young players who will be earning very little - not sure how the offering stacks up.

Great player not sure we saw the best of him - he hardly played in Murray's first year and Tony Smith didn't appear to really trust him either.

We saw his best time and time again, on and off the field a true Leeds Legend in my book

Amongst other things I will never forget his battles with Fielden during the Bulls 'glory period', true Leeds Legend.Wish him all the best.

From what I can gather it will be working with young players to provide advice/mentoring, and also assisting players who are coming towards the end of their careers in assessing their options and putting a plan together for after they finish in the game.

What about when Lance, and Powell were coaching the team? He was the best prop in the country.

Good look Barrie Leeds legend in my book

His battles with Fielden, his barnstorming runs, his try in the Cup Final.

But I'll remember him most for the 2005 World Club Challenge.
He came on. Got an offload away for McGuire's great try. Then from the kick off charged it in and laid out Grimaldi.

Lovely stuff.

Young players will not be able to afford it unless the club is willing to subsidise it - the second option I am unsure as to what qualifications either have to advise beyond basic common sense?

Not sure he was that - Bradford had 4 props every bit as good as him if not better - Saints has Britt who IMO was the best prop in SL by quite a distance.

Yes he provided go forward but his defence was poor as was his game management - I remember a game at Bradford when we lost to a drop goal that came as a result of a McDermott handling error with a minute to go.

More a crowd favourite than a genuine class player

Just been on a video sharing sites and watched Barrie vs Paul Sironen, Barrie and Terry best mates? and Barrie vs Fielden.

Leeds legend.

Was chatting to Kylie last night and I congratulated him on his new job and he seemed surprised that everyone knew about it. I guess he doesn't read much on social media.

Bazza was a legend and I loved it when he came off the bench and added a bit of 'animal' to the side, something I believe we've been lacking since he hung his boots up.

the role of prop has changed massively in 15 years. At the time he was very good at what he did. Bradford had a very good at of props but only fielden and mcdermot could be considered better.

As I said very good go forward but limited defence especially laterally - having said that to play with only one eye at this level must take some doing

Sal I take you to be a man who thinks deeply about the game, is knowledgeable and has strong opinions. But leave this one now.

I doubt your views on Barry will be widely shared amongst the Leeds faithful and as he leaves the club after 20 years I think the positive view of his contribution will and should prevail.

p.s. Don't give up the day job to set up as a eulogy writer

I've always said that Fielden's loss of form (which sadly didn't prove to be temporary) coincided with Barry's retirement from playing. With Bazza giving him a slap on a regular basis, he went to pieces.

Lot more to it than that IMO.

Fielden was burned out - physically, mentally and emotionally by events on and off the field. He'd played in a position that takes a high physical toll on the body from a relatively young age.

I always thought he was a good prop but no more than that. even now I think people have rose tinted glasses on when they reminisce.
I think he's done bloody well, had a good career and everything that's come after, for someone who wasn't top class.

cue plenty of replies

Your right Tad. This happens a lot though, people confuse good with fans status. He worked for the crowd, they liked his passion, he ran hard, we all like that. But skill wise, he was way behind many others.

Sonny Nickle had some great times at Saints, does he have any legend status there? And he too was no great player, just tough. You could name a lot more.

Fair assessment for me. He came off second best a little too often to be considered a true great.

Considering some of the teams/packs he played in and chances he had to leave i'd say he's very much a "Leeds great" for e.g the Dulls had 4 1st choice props all working off each other and Lowes whereas Baz had Jaimie Mathiou & Wayne Mcdonald then Chris Feather and also mentored the young Props like Ward ,Bailey and Scruton.
He more than held his own individually for Club and Country and imo was one of our best Props of the modern era with a very good offload that in his later days under DP & TS was teh starting point for many great trys scored by us not bad for ok ,good and less skillful.
Cheers Baz an absolute pleasure!