A veteran of 77 matches for North Auckland (now Northland) prior to even reaching Christchurch, Con Barrell went on to add 52 caps for Canterbury prior to his retirement in 1999, as well as falling just short of a half century of appearances for the Crusaders. After playing out of the Kamo club made famous in more recent times by Ian Jones, during his Northland career, Barrell offered fine service to Sydenham, joining their list of All Blacks when he featured as a mid-week international player in 1996 and 1997. Barrell featured in the Crusaders first two Super 12 titles. Another highlight was opposing his Northland-based brother Jason in the front row, when the Crusaders lost to the Chiefs 23-25 at Albany in 1998. Con is still resident in Christchurch and acted as a scrum resource for both the Crusaders and the Canterbury Air New Zealand Cup team in 2006.