DOB: 24 October 1913
Died: 31 July 1941
Debut: Round 7, 1936 against Collingwood at Victoria Park
Last Game: Grand Final 1940 against Richmond at MCG
From: Guildford/Castlemaine
Number: 31 (1936-1940)
Honours:
Premiership Player - 1940
Life Member - 2024
Games: 58
Goals: 84
Career Statistics
| Wins | Draws | Losses | Winning % |
| 45 | 0 | 13 | 77.58 |
The son of an Italian immigrant, Barassi was lured to Melbourne partly with the offer a job with the Melbourne City Council. Barassi made his debut in 1936 where he competed with Percy Beames and Alby Rodda for the roving position. As such he wasn't a regular senior player, but was often the Redlegs 19th man. His first two games were as a 19th man where he was unused, before coming off the bench in the last quarter of Round 18 for his first taste of senior action.
Barassi missed the 1939 Grand Final, and was involved in a clearance dispute in early 1940 when VFA side Coburg believed he had applied to join. Melbourne rejected a clearance, and the case went before the VFA's permit committee. He was also reported to have been refused a clearance to South Melbourne in the same month. With Barassi in the country the Association permit committee decided to wait until the player himself fronted them for a clearance. He received a provisional clearance but decided to stay at Melbourne and won his only premiership, coming off the bench early in the first quarter of the 1940 Grand Final to replace the injured Ray Wartman.
The Grand Final victory was Barassi's final league match. He had enlisted in the Army in July 1940, and finished the season travelling to Melbourne three times a week from the Puckapunyal army camp to train and play. Almost immediately after the end of the 1940 season Barassi left Australia to serve in the North Africa. He achieved the rank of Corporal before being killed in action at Tobruk on 31 July 1941. Reports of the cause of death are unclear but some accounts have him driving a truck which hit a landmine, while some suggest he was been hit by shrapnel from a mine meant for a nearby harbour.
His son, Ron Barassi, would later join Melbourne under a Father/Son rule established purely to get Ron Jr to the Demons.
| Year | Games | Goals | Brownlow |
| 1936 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1937 | 14 | 24 | 3 |
| 1938 | 13 | 18 | 0 |
| 1939 | 13 | 28 | 1 |
| 1940 | 14 | 14 | 2 |
Tribunal Record
| Match | Charge | Sanction | |
| Round 15, 1938 | Attempted Striking | 2 matches | |
| Round 11, 1939 | Striking | 4 matches | |
Lists
Family
Players who served during war
Media
Sun - 07/05/1936, 31/05/1940
Sporting Globe - 27/04/1940, 28/09/1940
Age - 30/05/1940, 03/06/1940
Record - 01/06/1940
Argus - 08/08/1941
Weekly Times - 16/06/1941
Links
Boyles Football Photos
Demonwiki image gallery
Wikipedia profile
World War II record