John Barnes (Australian footballer)

John Barnes (born 1 June 1969) is a retired Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.

Barnes' VFL/AFL career included two State of Origin games for Victoria.

The young Barnes was a ruckman/forward recruited by Essendon in 1986 from Cobram, Victoria. He was traded after five seasons with Windy Hill to the Geelong Football Club for Sean Denham. Under the coaching of Malcolm Blight and later Gary Ayres he would go on to feature prominently in the losing 1994 and 1995 Grand Final sides. During a round five encounter at Princes Park against Carlton in 1997, after a marking duel, Barnes landed awkwardly on his left elbow, dislocating it and sidelining him for ten weeks. Barnes was delisted by the club in 1999. He had played a total of 144 games with 65 goals with the Cats.

It was Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy however who tempted Barnes back to Windy Hill, and he was selected at number #59 in the 1999 AFL Draft. A shortage of ruckmen at the club lead Sheedy to reacquaint Barnes with his former club. A season later after defeat to the Brisbane Lions in the 2001 Grand Final, Barnes retired. He had totalled 58 games and 25 goals with the Bombers during his original tenure and return to the club.

Barnes was a runner for Essendon and was fined by the AFL for spending too long on the ground, before he was controversially suspended for two matches by the AFL for interfering with play during the 2005 season.