New Hawthorn defender Tom Barrass opens up on ‘extremely hard decision’ to leave West Coast

New Hawthorn defender Tom Barrass has penned an emotional goodbye to West Coast, saying the decision to leave the club was “extremely hard”.

Barrass was traded to the Hawks 30 minutes before the trade period deadline on Wednesday night after weeks of drawn-out negotiations.

The Eagles netted future first, second and third-round picks for the 29-year-old defender, who was a member of the Eagles’ 2018 premiership side and won the best and fairest in 2022.

On Thursday morning, Barrass shared a series of photos on his Instagram page, and paid tribute to the club that he has been at since he was drafted with the 43rd pick in the 2013 draft.

“I would like to the thank the West Coast Eagles football club for being my home for the last 11 years,” Barrass posted.

“I have loved this club since I was a boy, and it has been central in my life since. The club has provided me with unbelievable opportunity, experience, mentors and most importantly friendships.

“I also feel it is important to thank the fans and the WCE community — I have always felt the love, and have always tried to display mine through the way I played.

“This has been an extremely hard decision, but sometimes hard is good, and the interests of my family and friends come first. Hopefully I’ve made a contribution to a club I love very much. Being a life member is a true honour.

“Love you all and see you on the other side, I am really looking forward to the next part of my life with my little family, over at Hawthorn.

“TB out.”

Teammates were quick to pay tribute to their departing teammate in the comments.

“Damn 🥲❤️,” Brady Hough said.

“Teeba❤️🫡,” Reuben Ginbey said.

“Love ya big Orse ❤

Barrass leaves the Eagles after 150 games in 11 seasons.

“Since Tom requested a trade our sole aim has been to receive adequate compensation for a contracted player of his quality and experience,” Eagles list boss Matt Clarke said.

“Once we got the deal done late in the piece we were pretty happy with the first, second and third (picks) for next year to put us in a strong position for next year’s draft.

“We’re pretty confident we got a good deal for Tom.”

West Coast had a busy trade period, bringing in Liam Baker, Jack Graham and Matt Owies.

But they also parted with pick No.3 in a controversial move that resulted in a lot of backlash.