‘It’s now or never’: Young dad Brent Barnes’ battle from depression to NRL push
Meet the former junior Australian schoolboys gun who looked set to the NRL by storm before spiralling into a life that had him ‘headed for jail’. Could he resurrect his career under master coach Craig Bellamy?
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“It’s now or never”.
There were times when Brent Barnes threatened to be an all too familiar rugby league story: a prodigious talent who did not live up to his obvious potential.
But now the 21-year-old has rediscovered his fight, overcoming a tumultuous period in his young life to re-envision his path to the NRL.
Every week Barnes lives two lives: the stay at home father and the athletic hopeful who travels between the Helensvale Hornets and now Sunshine Coast Falcons to train in pursuit of a chance at the top.
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He does so because of his young girl, and because of the spiral he caught himself in barely two years ago. A spiral he believes could have ended with him behind bars.
“I’ve got a few mates who all play NRL now — Tom Dearden, Reece Walsh, Brendan Piakura — I see those boys and it was a real eye opener that if they can do it I can too,” Barnes said.
“It’s hard, but I don’t look at the hard times. I look at it like if I’m going to do this I have to do it. Ever since I had my daughter that’s how I look at it; everything I do is for her and that’s my goal.
“That’s why I push so much harder to make the NRL now than I did before. I’ve got to make sacrifices you know? And sometimes you have to make those sacrifices you don’t want to make to get to where you want to get to.
“I believe by making these sacrifices my family and my partner will live how we want to live our future.”
TRIAL BY FIRE
Coming out of Coombabah State High School and the Hornets’ junior pathways, Barnes went on to represent the Australian schoolboys in 2016.
An enigmatic winger blessed with plenty of speed to burn, he ticked enough boxes to earn a shot in the Parramatta Eels development system.
Rooming with New Zealand World Cup sensation Dylan Brown, Barnes was exposed to the most elite environment he had ever been in. Once the excitement wore off, he hit a slump.
Home sicknesses got the better of the then teenager, and a spontaneous trip back to the Gold Coast eventually ended with the loss of his contract.
Barnes admits his life took a turn; a turn which kept him away from rugby league for the best part of four years.
“After that incident (with the Eels) I was in a depressed state where I didn’t know what to do,” Barnes said.
“I got heavily into drinking. Being young, you just want to party and you want to have fun and you don’t think about the future from when you’re 16.
“In that period of time I had off all I was doing was drinking, smoking and doing what teenagers do — going out and partying.
“I think it was 2019 was the year where I realised that if I’m going to head down this path I’m either going to go to jail for the rest of my life or do the wrong thing.
“Then 2020 came and I started slowly getting back into it, and 2021 that’s when I went this is it; it’s now or never.”
BOUNCING BACK
A chance encounter with then Tweed Seagulls coach Ben Woolf at the Rugby League Gold Coast grand finals led to a fresh start for Barnes.
From there he linked up with the club’s colts coach, Aaron Zimmerle, and returned to his beloved Hornets in pursuit of higher honours.
Barnes was strong in the Hornets’ debut A-grade season, finishing with nine tries and equal fourth on the competition’s leaderboard despite his side registering just one win for the year.
He would go on to score nine tries from nine appearances under Zimmerle’s tutelage last year — including four in a memorable win over Ipswich — culminating in a Queensland Cup debut he felt had long passed him.
“It was amazing, personally I didn’t think after having those years off I would ever be in a rep footy team again,” Barnes said.
“I couldn’t explain it. It was good just knowing I still had that potential to achieve that goal. I did it and I shocked myself, I didn’t believe I could keep up that level of footy.”
THE NEXT STEP
The fire has been lit for Barnes to join his former teammates and friends among rugby league's upper echelon, and he has his sights set on the Sunshine Coast Falcons’ flank.
From there, he hopes to truly enter the eye of the storm and earn an opportunity under the club’s NRL affiliate Melbourne and their mastercoach Craig Bellamy.
Friends such as Storm and Queensland sensation Xavier Coates and former Seagulls teammate Charlie Murray now don the purple jumper as part of arguably the most powerhouse NRL juggernaut of the past decade.
Barnes knows it will take more than his uncanny try scoring ability to impress a man of Bellamy’s standing in the game, instead intent on ensuring he makes an impression whether he is crossing the white line or not.
Already Barnes has shown those makings, having been one of only two players in Tweed’s colts line up last year to top 200 running metres in a game; the other being Gold Coast Titans contracted centre Kaleb Ngamanu.
But he said his focus would now hone in on limiting the difference between his best and worst performances and becoming the type of consistent performer which typifies the Bellamy brand.
“That’s my goal eventually to get an opportunity down there (to Melbourne),” Barnes said.
“When I was younger I always had speed. I’ve always been quick coming up and, I don’t know, I think it was just me getting fit and being able to find that speed again.
“This is my first ever Cup pre-season so it’s good for me, I’ve never experienced high level footy training before for a pre-season.
“For me it’s amazing, the boys are great and they’re so supportive too and they’re a bunch of good boys. I love being around that group, it makes you feel good within yourself to know the boys are good to you.”
HELENSVALE REVIVAL?
Should Barnes not earn a Falcons crack come the opening rounds, he will ply his trade at his junior club under the watchful eye of former Junior Kiwis mentor Paul Bergman.
Last year the speed demon’s Tweed commitments kept him to just three games in the green and black jersey; scoring five tries in the process.
And despite the Hornets’ shaky start to their time in the RLGC A-grade competition — claiming just two wins and a draw since 2021 — Barnes believes a corner has been turned.
Recruits such as the Melrose trio — Jay, Brogan and Trinity — have added experience to a previously undermanned squad, and Barnes said the impact of a man such as Bergman could be the missing piece that unlocks a promising junior base.
So much so, he declared there was no reason why Helensvale could not embark on a bold finals bid in 2023.
“Of course, that’s our goal every year; whether it’s 20s, 18s, we are all trying to push for the finals,” Barnes said.
“But I think being our second year in A-grade we just need to work together and I think our main goal is to build that culture in that club to be able to achieve that goal.
“I’ve been at that club since under-12s and it’s just been amazing with them. They’ve always been good to me, the president Wayne Court is like a second dad in a way because he’s always been there.
“With the new boys coming in, and the younger boys, it’s a lot better and there is more of that vibe which is just good.
“I believe that we will get to the finals if we want to. We have the team to do it this year but we’ve just got to want to do it for ourselves and the club.”
Originally published as ‘It’s now or never’: Young dad Brent Barnes’ battle from depression to NRL push
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