He was then named as captain in 1986 and represented WA twice more, won the Sandover Medal and South Fremantle's best and fairest award.
Geelong had one of the better midfields in the then Victorian Football League(VFL) in the late 1980s with Paul Couch, Andrew Bews and Bairstow.
In 1989, he had 404 kicks during the 22-round home and away season to finish third on the disposals list with 591, behind Paul Couch on 615 and Terry Wallace on 614.
[3] After Geelong's loss in the 1989 grand final, Bairstow retired from VFL football and returned home to Lake Grace, Western Australia to work on his family's farm.
While there, Bairstow played football for Lake Grace, including another losing grand final.