Retiring Sydney defender Leo Barry will happily be remembered for his brilliant game-saving mark in the 2005 grand final against West Coast even if his coach Paul Roos believes it should be just the tip of the iceberg.

The Swans were grimly clinging to a four-point lead late in the game when the Eagles went inside forward 50 one last time only for Barry to launch himself at the ball and fly across the front of a massive pack to pouch the superb one-grab mark.

And having joked that he has a framed picture of the event 'plastered' above his bed so he can look at it as he drifts off to sleep each night, Barry admitted that the mark meant more to others than it did to him.

"Obviously people talk about it a lot, and I'll always be remembered as that guy that took that mark, not so much what I've achieved through my footy, but that's not a bad thing to be remembered about is it?" Barry said when he confirmed his impending retirement on Tuesday.

"It was such a big game and as a kid you always dream about kicking the winning goal in a grand final. But to take the mark is probably a similar comparison so it sits pretty well and it will be something I'll always be proud of."

Roos, who arrived in the Harbour City as a player at the same time as Barry in late 1994 after switching from Fitzroy, couldn't speak highly enough of a defender who played on much bigger opponents during his long career.

"The mark was great but I remember Leo for more than the mark, that just puts a stamp on his career," said Roos, who nominated Barry's effort in keeping Fraser Gehrig kickless in the Round 11 game in 2004 that saw St Kilda's 10-match winning streak end as a better summation.

"That shouldn't be physically possible for a guy of Leo's stature but he was able to do that because he's so powerful in his mind and his competitiveness. That was one game that stands out for me."

"But he consistently did it over and over again and through that period of time he was clearly one of the best two or three defenders in the competition. And really the mark just probably stamped him as a footballer at the level that he should be remembered at."

Having nominated his debut match, his first game in defence in the 2000 pre-season and the Swans' great rivalry with the Eagles through the 2005, '06 and '07 seasons as the highlights of his career, Barry is also confident the club can again be a force.

Doom and gloom was predicted for Sydney in 2009 and while the club won't make the finals he is nonetheless sure that the younger players that have started to make a name for themselves this year will cover the losses of himself, Michael O'Loughlin and Barry Hall.

"I'm really confident that the group of players can really improve next year," Barry added. "We have lost Hally and Mick and myself but I think what happened at that particular stage you find the younger guys really do step up through opportunity."

"I think as a club, internally, we're pretty confident that we can be extremely competitive by the end of the year and also next year and I think … everyone collectively here thinks that we can really develop and hopefully in a couple of years we'll be able to have another tilt at the finals."

"When you do lose some of your more key experienced guys it is maybe time for everyone to turn over a leaf and let some of the other guys have an opportunity, we've obviously had our go and (should) let some of the other younger guys get an opportunity."

Roos may say otherwise but marks like Barry's in the 2005 decider are so critical that there's no getting past the fact that that is why he'll be best remembered, and as he said it's not a bad way for people to reminisce about his career.