The barrett moment that sums him up

Trent Barrett's time in rugby league is probably up after messy exits from both Manly and the Bulldogs and he has been the subject of much ridicule over both.Some blokes just aren't cut out for coaching but let me share a story that shows what Trent Barrett, the man, is like.Some 20 years ago, when Barrett was captaining the Dragons, and one of the NRL's glamour boys, there was a curtain raiser before a game at Kogarah.It was a massive mismatch - a Dragons under 20 team thrashed a team from the Central Coast by more than 100 points.I happened to be on the sideline as the teams left the field and several of the poor kids from up the Coast were in tears - and the Kogarah crowd were far from kind with their jibes.Barrett happened to be on the sideline doing a TV interview as the players left the field and saw the distressed state of some of the kids from Central Coast.I'll never forget how he quietly walked up to them, told them to keep their chins up, and said that he had copped some big beltings in his time as a young player - and that they could bounce back from it just as he did.The gloomy expressions on the faces of these kids immediately changed and it shows that while Barrett may not have been the best coach league has seen, he has certainly been one of the best blokes.