There’s much more to new Hawk Tom Barrass than meets the eye.

Not only is he a star defender and premiership player, he is also a father and music lover who combines his professional footy commitments with philosophy studies, hosting a podcast and working with an important foundation.

Speaking to Triple M’s Rush Hour, Barrass provided an excellent insight into his many interests off the field, as well as what drew him to the Hawks in a new on-field venture for 2025. 

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO TOM BARRASS’ CHAT WITH JAMES BRAYSHAW AND BILLY BROWNLESS

On what drew him to Hawthorn

“That's a great question. Look, ultimately, I think I was just ready for a change in my life. I was sort of out of gas doing what I was doing on the West Coast. I love that footy club, I always have and it's been such a big part of my life, but it was just time for me to do something different and that was going to mean another career. Sam Mitchell reached out. I played with him in 2017 and he was a coach of mine in 2018. I had a lot of respect for the way he went about things and his outlook on not just football, but life. He's a very fundamentalist sort of guy and I really took a liking to that and yeah, the rest is history.”

On his decision to leave West Coast

“It was the toughest thing I've ever done for sure. As I said, I think the whole process has taught me that, you know, at that point in time, when you do take that risk and you are going through a really hard time, on the other side of it is the right thing for you. It's a symptom of you're actually going through good personal growth and you're ready for the next thing. So it was really tough and there was a lot of suffering in that whole move across the country, leaving my football club that raised me and that developed me. However, it's really shown me that the time is right to do something new with my life and to prioritise what I wanted.” 

On his time at the Hawks so far

“Yeah, it's great, it's a really good environment. It's reaffirmed a lot of my ideas about football and about teamwork. I have to tip my hat to the administration, the organisation there and the players. They've been running a good program for a number of years and they've got some really great characters in there.”

On his love for the game

“I love football, yes. I pretended and fought myself in thinking that I didn't for a long time and it's really since I've probably had kids that I've realised that I actually do really enjoy sport and like watching sport.”

On his interest in music and his new podcast

“Yeah, I'm into music. I’ve got two kids, so that occupies a fair bit of my time and, yeah, football is my job that I take quite seriously. I've still got some goals that I want to achieve there. But music's a big passion of mine away from footy. I’ve just taken on a little passion project to do with that too, which is really exciting. It's (a podcast) named Pass The Aux. So it's meant to be a radio show. It's myself and my co-host, Matt. We talk about music, we play tunes and it exists within a Spotify playlist so that the artists themselves get the streams. Hopefully, we can add value and create a new audience through our love of music itself. Then we invite some guests to come on and share their musical journey, we ask them about their story and how music sort of fits in with them. We're really loving the magic of hearing a story, getting the context and then the song comes in and you go to that moment with that person.”

On his studies outside of football 

“I'm studying philosophy at UWA (University of WA), which I've got to try and figure out how to finish now that I'm living in not WA. I really love that degree and I think it's some of the knowledge that I've learned that’s going to really be very valuable in the years to come. So I think I'll try and finish that off in the next couple of years and probably try and get on with some other interests.”

On his excitement around the Kennedy Community Centre 

“It's a fantastic development. The two grounds have been laid just before Christmas so they're getting a bit of time in the earth. And then you’ve got the facilities which are sort of about 60 to 70 per cent developed, I'm pretty sure. It seems like it's going to be a really great initiative for the footy club. It also has a great capacity to bring other industries in the community to that area.”

JOIN THE HAWKS FOR 2025! CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT OUR POPULAR MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS

On the work he does with the McGovern Foundation

“The McGovern Foundation is a foundation founded by Andrew and Jeremy McGovern, two of my very good friends out of Western Australia. Jeremy, a five-time All Australian and Andrew spent 20 years working for the Clontarf Foundation on helping Indigenous kids get through school. However, he sort of noticed a bit of a gap in the system in that it wasn't really improving the employment outcomes for the kids who are getting through school, because they still face lots of barriers to getting their driver's license. So the McGovern Foundation runs a program named the Wanderer Program, which is a driver mentor program for disadvantaged kids who can't gain their license. So we, as the Wanderer Program, provide the resources necessary for participants to go from the start, which might be things like identity documents, learners’ permits and just getting to the drivers’ centre, all the way through to P plates. So you get 120 hours of mentoring which you know, for everyone, It’s a lot of time in the car and a lot of resources like the car itself and registration. It's actually quite a resource-intense thing, so we want to provide that opportunity for people who would otherwise be unable to get their license so we can change their employment outcomes as well as their community participation and social outcomes.” 

Watch Tom Barrass’ full chat with James Brayshaw and Billy Brownless below.