Tom Barrass: West Coast Eagles premiership defender thanks club and fans in emotional social media post

Premiership defender Tom Barrass has paid an emotional farewell to West Coast, saying the interests of his family and friends came first in his decision to shift to Hawthorn.

Barrass became a Hawk on Wednesday night in the frantic final half-hour of the trade period after weeks of drawn-out negotiations between the two clubs.

West Coast will receive a future first, future second and future third-round pick all attached to Hawthorn, in exchange for the best-and-fairest winner and a future fourth-round selection.

On Thursday morning, Barrass took to Instagram to farewell the Eagles in a post, telling fans he has “loved this club since I was a boy” and that it was an “extremely hard decision”.

The post also included a series of images from Barrass’ time at the Eagles, including a family shot with his partner Nadia and two children and memories from the 2018 premiership celebrations.

“I would like to the thank the @westcoasteagles football club for being my home for the last 11 years,” Barrass posted.

“I have loved this club since I was a boy, and it has been central in my life since. The club has provided me with unbelievable opportunity, experience, mentors and most importantly friendships.

“I also feel it is important to thank the fans and the WCE community — I have always felt the love, and have always tried to display mine through the way I played.

“This has been an extremely hard decision, but sometimes hard is good, and the interests of my family and friends come first. Hopefully I’ve made a contribution to a club I love very much. Being a life member is a true honour.

“Love you all and see you on the other side, I am really looking forward to the next part of my life with my little family, over at @hawthornfc.”

The defender finished the message by declaring “TB out” with a red heart.

Teammates Jai Culley, Brady Hough, Clay Hall and Tyrell Dewar were among the first to pay tribute in the comments.

Barrass, 29, departs the Eagles after 150 games in 11 seasons, having been drafted with pick No.43 in 2013.

“Since Tom requested a trade our sole aim has been to receive adequate compensation for a contracted player of his quality and experience,” Eagles list boss Matt Clarke said.

“Once we got the deal done late in the piece we were pretty happy with the first, second and third (picks) for next year to put us in a strong position for next year’s draft.

“We’re pretty confident we got a good deal for Tom.”