Despite being short for a full-back at 184 centimetres, he has successfully played on much taller opponents, making use of his leaping skills and using his body well.
Regularly playing on opponents 10–15 cm taller than he is, Barry rarely had multiple goals kicked upon him.
Barry's unique defensive ability was observed in 2004 when he kept 196-centimetre St Kilda full-forward Fraser Gehrig to two handballs for the whole game (for this effort, he received three Brownlow Medal votes).
[1] Despite being only 184 centimetres tall, Barry was surprisingly strong, which was a useful attribute for him when facing taller opponents such as Fraser Gehrig, Brendan Fevola, David Neitz, Anthony Rocca, Chris Tarrant, Quentin Lynch, Matthew Lloyd, Jonathan Brown, Daniel Bradshaw and Matthew Richardson.
After a kick from Dean Cox was sent into the forward line, Barry marked in a big pack within the dying seconds of the game to secure the Swans' long-awaited premiership.