Barlow took out his second Glendinning Medal this season, and third in six games against West Coast, for his 26-disposal, two-goal performance.
But he said it was the character showed by Freo players on all lines in a tense battle that should be praised, particularly in the final quarter surge.
“We acknowledged it was going to be an uphill battle and we had to show some character,” Barlow said.
“I think the medal could have gone to anyone, we had winners across all lines.
“From the back, like ‘Spurry’ (Lee Spurr) and ‘Johnno’ (Michael Johnson), in the midfield with ‘Fyfey’ (Nat Fyfe) and ‘Barra’ (David Mundy) getting to work, and up forward as well, where our little guys just nip at their heels.
“It was a good collective effort.”
The Eagles took it right up to Freo on Sunday, leading the tackle count by a staggering 60-37 at half-time, a statistic Barlow said disappointed the team.
“It was unlike us to get out-tackled,” he said.
“We knew West Coast would like an outside game against our bigger bodies and that probably did surprise us.
“Across the board we had 10-15 minute patches where we weren’t laying a thumb on them and they were coming the full length of the field and scoring, which was really unlike us.”
But Barlow said Freo gathered itself when the game was up for grabs to run out winners.
“We got to work and stayed close to the ball carrier and were able to apply pressure to their mids,” he said.
