As the only family in New Zealand with three generations of All Blacks in it, you’d be forgiven for thinking that rugby was the only subject at the dinner table. Think again.
“This will surprise you,” Liam Barry, Australia’s new men’s sevens coach, tells The Roar. “We actually didn’t.
“My father really didn’t talk about it, bless him.
“We all played. I’ve got two brothers. We played, and we played to certain levels, and we absolutely loved it. I’ve got a sister. She actually got taken along for the ride and had to go everywhere. But we weren’t one of those families that were immersed in rugby.”
Yet it was later in life that the penny dropped on the uniqueness of Barry’s family.
“Later on, I realised, oh my grandfather played for the All Blacks,” Barry said.
“Oh, Dad played for the All Blacks, too. Oh, shoot, that’s pretty cool.
“So, it really wasn’t a massive thing. And then later in life, I realised that, yeah, it was pretty cool.
“But rugby certainly didn’t define us as a family. I think we just loved the team ethos and what you learn from it.
“One thing Mum and Dad did say was we had to play a sport or an activity, so that was my life.”
Liam Barry addresses Australia’s men’s sevens team on the eve of the Perth Sevens. Photo: Rugby Australia
Barry, who was in and around the All Blacks set up for years but only Test came against France in 1995 before injury slowed his progress, is the man tasked with rebuilding Australia’s men’s sevens team.
After the men fell agonisingly just short in their quest for a maiden Olympic medal, losing in extra time to South Africa in the bronze medal match, change has ripped through the men’s program.
Not only did Manenti surprise Rugby Australia by leaving to head overseas to restart his coaching in the 15-a-side game, but the man many, including the governing body, thought would take over, James Stannard, followed suit by returning to the Western Force as an assistant coach.
On top of it, long-serving captain Nick Malouf retired, Nathan Lawson, the side’s best performer in 2024, switched codes by joining the Dragons in the NRL, as did Olympian Mark Nawaqanitawase, regular starter Dietrich Roache suffered a season-ending injury, and speedster Corey Toole returned to the Brumbies.
More recently, co-captain Henry Paterson also suffered an injury to be ruled out of this weekend’s Perth Sevens.
Despite that, Barry said he was thrilled to see the mentality of the group remained committed and rock solid.
“Look, it’s difficult because you are trying to find your feet and learn as you go and they’re already back in the thick of it,” said the former New Zealand Sevens assistant coach, who admitted he was the “lucky benefactor” of Stannard opting to join the Force.
“But John and ‘Chucky’ [Stannard] did an outstanding job, just missing out in extra time in against South Africa, so off the back of that we’ve lost a few players. I think the last count was five with Henry Paterson getting injured for this weekend. And quality players Dietrich and Nick Malouf and Corey Toole and Nathan going to league, so all of a sudden the core has been taken out of the group.
“But I have been really, not surprised, but really enthused by the team and how they work, how they focus.
“That’s been a massive part of coming over here and going, shoot, they love to work hard and they love to learn, and we’ve got to do it fast – that’s most probably the reality.”
Former Australian men’s sevens coach John Manenti and assistant James Stannard (C) in 2023. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
Part of Barry’s plan of continuing the men’s progress on the World Series circuit is to explain the benefits of playing the game.
Having played his part in the development of Rieko Ioane and Caleb Clarke, Barry insists both versions of the game can help one another with clear communication and planning.
“I was fifteens converted to sevens, and I’m pretty much sold on the game,” the former North Harbour head coach said.
“I think that’s the biggest challenge, and I had it in New Zealand, and I’m sure it’ll be the same here is trying to, I suppose, sell sevens as a game that can really benefit young players and understand that it’s a different pathway, but it’s a pathway all the same.
“Darby, Corey, Dylan [Pietsch] would, I’m sure, be fierce advocates of what they learned and did in sevens. And, I suppose, that’s the part of the puzzle that I’d love to try and solve.
“We play the greatest game of consequence. If you don’t make a tackle, it’s a try. If you don’t take a kick off, you’re defending for a couple of minutes.
“The isolated skills for players in terms of clean out, ball carry, has to be so exact and accurate that it only benefits when they go back to fifteens where you’ve actually got more time. And you’re not going against someone who can run 35km/h.
“That’s not even looking at the fact that they’ll play in front of 15,000, 20,000 people. So the added pressure of an expectation on the national side, it only grows, it only matures young rugby players.”
The changing of the guard of Australia’s successful men’s sevens team has occured. (Photo by Dan Mullan – RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)
It doesn’t mean Barry will go headhunting Wallabies, but the former back-rower believes targeting fringe players for a season can help everyone.
“I’ve been quite open that it’s not so much the Wallabies, it’s the fringe Super players,” Barry said.
“So Super will pick 23 men to play, but it’s those numbers that are 28 to 38. What are they doing? How are they getting their rugby? When are they getting it? Are they just holding bags? And, I suppose, that’s the challenge. It’s all fine that I can say it, but I’ve got to go meet them.”
Barry knows it too, with six players from New Zealand’s recent Olympic sevens team being picked up across the Super Rugby franchises across the ditch.
“Getting your talent ID network up there going is vital,” he said.
“This kid is the goods. Can we send him down for a week and have a look at him? Because when you coach for a while, you know when someone’s in front of you who’s pretty good.”
Barry, just like another New Zealand coach whose office if just a couple down the corridor at Rugby Australia, is a school teacher by trade.
Just don’t go asking him about geography any time soon.
“He’s [Joe Schmidt] a better teacher than I am, flippin’ heck,” Barry quipped. “I think he was deputy principal of a big school; Joe was next level.
“It certainly gives you an understanding of how they learn and what they hear and how do you know they know. That’s a big question for coaches. You can talk all you like, but how do you really know that I’ve picked up on what you’ve said, especially with my accent?
“Teaching is coaching. Coaching is teaching, isn’t it? And you’re educating. So, I sort of fell into it with a job down back in New Zealand, literally with an academy. That’s sort of how it started, and I cut my teeth there.”
Liam Barry addresses his new-look Australian men’s sevens team. Photo: Nooroa Takairangi, Rugby Australia
So given the significant turnover in players, how might Australia play under Barry?
“Well, we were only discussing this the other day with the team, and I said how do you want to play, and what do you think our profile is?” Barry said.
“They’re highly skilled, they’ve got a great catch-pass, they’re quick – there’s not one or two absolute flyers, but all of them are quick and are getting to an aerobic and anaerobic capacity that they can play this game at international standards.
“So, I think we’ve got to be a team that looks to outwork others because we don’t have a power profile. We’re not New Zealand, we’re not Fiji. And most probably we don’t even mirror the diversity of, say, the Wallabies. We’re not a reflection of the Wallabies in terms of some of their power players.
“So, we’ve got an idea to outwork sides and be smart, and be smart about how we play. The boys came up with that.”
And what about your Barry’s kids, could one continue the rich name and add a fourth generation All Black to the mix?
“Well, I’ve got four [children],” Barry said. “I’ve got four; two boys, two girls, and they enjoy it. And the rest is left to others. It’s left to them to see if they can do any good.”
