By ANNA USHER

Mosman’s Brian Barry has quietly slipped into truly rare territory – turning 102 on February 6 – and UNSW researchers are now pointing to his life as a real-world example of what they call a “super-ager”: someone who has stayed mentally sharp deep into later life.

If Brian’s name rings a bell, it’s because he’s rugby league royalty around these parts – a former first-grade referee and touch judge, a life member and ambassador of the NSW Rugby League Referees Association – and widely regarded as one of NSW’s oldest living top-grade officials.

Mosman Collective first told his story when he turned 100, after he said he was “overwhelmed” when 300 people packed into Balgowlah RSL to celebrate. 

But this week, the Mosman legend has landed in a very different spotlight.

In a new UNSW profile, Brian’s story is used to underline a message that will hit home for a lot of lower north shore families: “Ageing is inevitable. Dementia is not.” The researchers say dementia risk is not fixed – and that up to around half of dementia risk is linked to factors that can be modified across life, including physical activity, blood pressure, diet quality, smoking, social connection, depression and even exposure to air pollution.

Brian’s life, they say, reads like a checklist of brain-protective habits – even though he never set out to “biohack” anything. 

He grew up in Cremorne Junction, behind the old Orpheum picture theatre, during the Depression – “bread and dripping”, bare feet at school, one chicken for Christmas, and neighbours swapping eggs for vegetables.  He left school at 15, and his first dream job was at a lolly factory in Rozelle: “I thought I’d struck gold,” he told UNSW.

Then the war came. The factory switched from sweets to bandages, and Brian served two and a half years in New Guinea, a chapter he remembers with the blunt honesty of someone who saw the real cost of conflict. 

Back home, he worked as a tram conductor, tram driver and bus driver – always moving, always talking to people – before spending 20 years as an NRL referee, rising to the biggest stages. UNSW notes he officiated six grand finals as a touch judge between 1972 and 1977, as well as 16 first grade games, and earned a reputation for fairness and professionalism.

Even now, at 102, Brian still organises the referees’ annual lawn bowls days – and only gave up driving “a few years ago”. His granddaughter Louise told UNSW he never drank alcohol, never smoked, has exercised throughout his life, and somehow maintains a social life busier than people half his age.

But Brian’s story isn’t just the triumphs. It includes the heartbreak too.

His wife Rose developed dementia and Brian visited her every single day, often from 10am to 5pm, through hospital, rehab and residential aged care. “It was very hurtful sometimes,” he said -but he learned something he now repeats to other families: “Be kind… because their brain is not like your brain.”

So what does a 102-year-old Mosman super-ager tell the rest of us?

He doesn’t overcomplicate it.

“Enjoy what you’ve got.”

And honestly – coming from Brian Barry – that lands.

If you’d like to wish Brian a happy 102nd birthday, you’ll find him at The Duck (Hotel Mosman) on Friday night (FEB 6) with his family. Shout him a lemonade!