"I actually had completely forgotten about it until Monday," Barlow said.
"Mum and Dad said they would be going over to Launceston.
"I said 'what's the occasion?' and they said 'you're playing your 50th game'. So it's exciting. More so from my family's perspective."
It's been an amazing journey for the 25-year-old from Shepparton, in Victoria. After two stellar seasons in the VFL, with Werribee, Fremantle rookie listed Barlow in 2010, and he is grateful every time he gets to pull on the Dockers jumper.
"I'm forever indebted to the place.They've been fantastic for me. They provided me with the opportunity to be an AFL footballer and I'm really comfortable with where I'm at as a footballer and as a person," he said.
Despite the gut-wrenching loss to Essendon, Barlow was confident the side could rebound against Hawthorn, but stopped short of saying it was a season defining match following their loss last Friday night.
"It's just such a long season.
"We've lost a chance to go 3-0 but we're not dictated to by win-loss, we're dictated to by how we perform and focusing on what we can control and for us that's this week, round four against Hawthorn, and we won't look any further forward than that," he said.
Fremantle won the clearances 60-37 against Essendon but Barlow said it was the quality of the Bombers ball movement that was an issue for Fremantle to correct this week against a powerful Hawthorn midfield.
"Their (Essendon's) clearances, especially in the third quarter were a lot more damaging and created a lot more inside 50s and more damaging inside 50s.
"As a midfield group we know for a fact that Hawthorn are going to get their hands on the ball in the middle at various points in the game.
"We've just got to identify ways which we can minimize their impact and force them wider and further out from goal than we were able to do against Essendon at certain points on Friday night," he said.
There are still doubts over Luke McPharlin's fitness ahead of Saturday's clash following his heavy concussion early in the loss to the Bombers. Barlow knows the importance of McPharlin given the potency of Hawthorn's forward line.
"Luke's crucial every week.
"I saw him this morning. He seems fine. But he'll go through the protocol that's required and later on in theweek we'll find out if he's available," he said.
