Pete is the second generation of a family connection to the Club that goes back more than 40 years. He is the son of former Demons player, Greg Barnes, who played with the Club during the 1970s and ‘80s.
JUNIOR FOOTY
Peter started his footy career as a 7 year old with the Pennant Hills Junior Club, playing nine seasons between 1996 and 2004 and amassing a total of 178 club games. This record places him amongst the most capped players at the Junior Club with only a handful ahead of him. Jackson Potter is the Junior Club’s games record-holder with 209.
Peter, 10 years, U10 Red 1998
Pete and his year-age playing group enjoyed enormous success during their time at the Junior Club, winning four premierships. Peter was a premiership player with the U11s in 1999 and then captained the U12s to another flag in 2000. In the same season, Peter played up with the U13s who were runners up in the Grand Final against Drummoyne. Notable team-mates in the U13s included Kieren Jack, Damian Dell’Aquila, Ben Miles, Charlie Richardson and Luke Turner.
In 2001, Peter was part of the U13 premiership side, making it three in a row for this group of players. The following season, in the U14s, the group fell short by one game of achieving four consecutive flags, and were runners up to Riverview in 2002. In his first season in the U16s, Peter won his fourth premiership in 2003 with a “comfortable victory” over Baulkham Hills.
In his final season, 2004, Peter competed in another Grand Final. Although they had been the “best team all year”, Penno U16s “could not put it together on Grand Final day” and went down to a “determined Baulkham Hills.” In his nine seasons at the club, Peter played in seven grand finals with a win/loss ratio of four wins and three losses, a remarkable run of success!
Peter, 16 years, U16, 2004
In the Junior Club Yearbooks, Peter’s football talent was variously described by his coaches as “tenacious”, “determined and talented”, “an outstanding prospect for the Club” and he had an “ability to turn a game with a deadly left foot.”
After finishing his junior footy in 2004, Peter returned to the Club in 2010 and, in combination with Daniel Keating and Jake Trestrail, was coach of the Under 16s which finished Minor Premiers in the Division 2 competition, but failed to reach the Grand Final.
SENIOR FOOTY
Peter joined the Pennant Hills Senior Club in 2006, playing his first season with the U18 Demons, coached by his dad, Greg Barnes. This team was 2006 Minor Premiers, however, North Shore took out the flag in the Grand Final with a convincing 57 point win. The following season was another Grand Final disappointment in Reserve Grade this time, losing by 1 point to East Coast Eagles. And, capping off a hat-trick of second places, Peter played in the 2013 Premier Division side that lost to Manly Warringah by 8 points. And then, of course, there was last season’s agonising 1 point loss to Sydney University in the Division One Grand Final … that’s twice he’s missed out on a flag by 1 solitary point! Unlike his time at the Juniors, Peter is unfortunately yet to win a flag with the Senior Club.
2016 is Peter’s 11th consecutive season with the Senior Club. He will play his 150th open-age game on 28 May 2016 in the Division One match against UTS Bats. This is a significant milestone that qualifies him for player life membership of the Senior Club. Approximately half of these games have been in Premier Division with the majority of the other half in Reserve Grade. Peter’s first grade debut was in 2008, although he can’t remember any details about this match. He was a regular member of the Premier Division side between 2012 and 2014, testimony to those excellent footballing qualities first spotted during his time at the Junior Club.
Peter was Runner-up Best & Fairest for Reserve Grade in 2008 and as a mark of his passion and commitment to team and Club, was voted Best Team Man in Premier Division in 2012.
FAMILY CONNECTIONS
The Barnes family connection with the Pennant Hills Demons spans two generations. Not only did father, Greg, coach at the Junior Club, but he was also a long term player with the Senior Club, playing more than 100 games over more than a decade between 1973 and 1984.
Greg Barnes, Coach, 1998
When Peter graduated to the Senior Club in 2006, Greg took a coaching role there also, taking the Under 18s for a couple of seasons and even coaching the Reserve Grade side in 2010. Greg is a Life Member of the Senior Club (1982) and was twice awarded the John Elliot Trophy (1988/89) for the Best Coach at the Junior Club. He has also served on both Junior and Senior committees.
But there’s more, Peter’s mother, Arna Barnes, was Clubperson of the Year for the Junior Club in 2000 (with Lynn Ellison) for her services in the canteen and his sister, Amy, was recipient of the inaugural Junior Clubperson of the Year Award in 1999. A true family affair!
A CHAMPION OF THE CLUB
Peter is a very popular personality around the Club. He’s an affable character with a wise-cracking wit …. a lovable larrikin, some might say. His devotion to the Code and the Club is second to none and he has proven himself a champion of the Club. His football career has been long and illustrious and he ranks amongst the longest serving players to have donned ‘the red and the blue’, having achieved 20 years of service and almost 350 games with the Pennant Hills Demons.
Congratulations Barnesy on reaching your 150 game milestone!
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BARNESY BY THE STATS
Peter BARNES Junior Football Career (Player 1996 – 2004, Coach 2010)
Age and year joined: 7 years, 1996
No of seasons/teams: 9 seasons, 1996 – 2004, U10 to U16
Total club games: 178
Awards: Captain (2000 U12), Most Consistent (1998 U10 Red)
Representative football: Northside Association (U14 2002, U13 2001, U12 1999-2000)
Premiership seasons: Premiers: U16 (2003), U13 (2001), U12 (2000), U11 (1999)
Runners Up: U16 (2004), U14 (2002), U13 (2000)
Other: Won U10 pre-season carnival in 1988, Won 6 from 6 in lightning p’ship in U10s in 1997
Related persons: Greg Barnes (father), Arna Barnes (mother), Amy Barnes (sister)
Notable team-mates: Tom Angel, Damian Dell’Aquila, Jak Hancock, Ryan Howarth, Kieren Jack, Hugh Kirkby,Charlie Richardson, Luke Turner, Sam Widmer
After Juniors: Pennant Hills Senior Club – 165 games 2006 – 2016
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Peter BARNES Senior Football Career (Player 2006 – 2016)
Year joined: 2006, U18 Demons
No of seasons/teams: 11 seasons, 2006 – 2016
Senior games: Total club games: Open-age: – 149
(Premier Division – 71, Reserves – 74, Thirds – 4)
Under 18s – 15
Awards: Reserve Grade R/U Best & Fairest (2008), Premier Division Best Team Man (2012)
Premiership seasons: Minor Premiers: Under 18 (2006)
Runners Up: Division One (2015), Premier Division (2013), Reserve Grade (2007),
Under 18s (2006)
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Matches Highlighted
1. U18 Grand Final 2006: Pennant Hills 1.1-7 lost to North Shore 9.10-64
2.Reserve Grade Grand Final 2007: Pennant Hills 10.12-72 lost to East Coast Eagles 11.7-73
3.Premier Division Grand Final 2013: Pennant Hills 11.6-72 lost to Manly-Warringah 11.14-80
4.Division One Grand Final Pennant Hills 7.10-52 lost to Sydney University 8.5-53
5.Under 11 Grand Final 1999: Pennant Hills 6.10-46 defeated Baulkham Hills 0.0-0
6.Under 13 Grand Final 2001: Pennant Hills 8.13-61 defeated Hawkesbury 3.2-20
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Written & compiled by John Acheson for PHAFC, Saturday 28 May 2016