As the season went on, Canterbury kept on losing games and were possibly going to win the wooden spoon resulting in the fans urging that Barba be put into first grade.

[13] Barba made his NRL debut for Canterbury in Round 20, against the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the same week that Sonny Bill Williams quit the club.

A 36-12 loss in Round 22 to the other desperate team close to winning the wooden spoon, the North Queensland Cowboys, at Suncorp Stadium, saw Barba scoring his first ever first grade try.

He played off the interchange bench in Round 1 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles[18] On 28 March, the night after Canterbury's Round 3 loss against the Gold Coast Titans where he had his first start at five-eighth, Barba got into a drunken fight with Canterbury teammates Jamal Idris and Lee Te Maari at the Wentworthville pub carpark.

[19] After the incident Barba was dropped into NSW Cup and played for the Bankstown City Bulls until Round 18 against the New Zealand Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium.

He played in Canterbury's NSW Cup Grand Final Premiership 32-0 win over the Balmain Ryde Eastwood Tigers where he scored a hat trick of tries.

In Round 3 against the Sydney Roosters, Barba came off the interchange bench and scored a hat trick of tries in the Canterbury club's 60-14 massacre win at ANZ Stadium, earning "The X-Factor" tag after his exciting performance in the match.

[21][22] In Round 5, Barba scored a sensational try when halftime was approaching in the Bulldogs heartbreaking try on full-time 30-24 loss to the New Zealand Warriors.

[28][29] In Round 25, Barba scored two tries in the 32-22 win against the Newcastle Knights in a thrilling second half comeback after they were trailing 22-6 at halftime.

[31] Barba finished the year with him playing in 24 matches and scoring 23 tries, being the season's equal top try scorer with South Sydney Rabbitohs winger Nathan Merritt.

In Round 16 against the Melbourne Storm at Virgin Australia Stadium in Mackay, in front his own hometown crowd, Barba set the 2012 try of the year for teammate Josh Morris.

[44][45] Barba returned to action for Canterbury in Round 4 and scored his first try of the season in their 17-12 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium.

[46][47] In Round 20, Barba suffered first ever first grade NRL injury causing him to require time and therapy off the field during Canterbury's 40-12 win against the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium.

[48] On 28 August, while still on injury, Barba asked for a release from the Bulldogs due to his ambition to play for the Brisbane Broncos since he and his family are from Queensland.

On 14 February 2014, Barba was selected in the Broncos inaugural 2014 NRL Auckland Nines squad, putting on his Brisbane jersey for the first time.

[57][58] In Round 3 against the Sydney Roosters, Barba played his 100th NRL career match in the Broncos last minute 30-26 loss at Suncorp Stadium.

[60] In Round 19 against the New Zealand Warriors at Suncorp Stadium, Barba made a switch from fullback to five-eighth with some success assisting the Brisbane side to a 28-22 win.

[68] In Round 1 of the 2015 NRL season, he made his club debut for the Cronulla side against the Canberra Raiders, playing at five-eighth in the Sharks' 24-20 loss at Remondis Stadium.

On 1 February 2017, it was announced that Barba had switched codes and joined French Top 14 rugby union team RC Toulonnais for 2+1⁄2 seasons.

[84] On 1 February 2019, before playing a game for the North Queensland Cowboys, Barba was released due to a significant breach of the terms of his contract.

[93] In July 2020, he made another shock code switch to Australian rules football and played for the Eastern Swans reserves in the AFL Mackay competition where he lined up in the position of full forward and kicked seven goals on debut.

[97] Barba's older brother, Aaron, played rugby league in the Queensland Cup, setting the competition record for most tries in a season with 33 in 2003.

[99][100] In 2013 the NRL investigated Barba after his on and off girlfriend, Currie, claimed he punched her in the face, and sent pictures to a friend showing her bloodied chin.

[102] In March 2019 Barba pleaded guilty to public nuisance, and sentenced to community service, with magistrate John Smith noting that his ban from the NRL had been an "enormous penalty".