You guys have weird memories if you think Barlow was wasted.
Under Lyon between 2012 and 2015 (ie, when we were good) Barlow played 23 games a season and averaged 25 touches. He was moved to the periphery a bit in 2016 when Freo dropped off a cliff, and a younger, better player in Lachie Neale took his spot in the middle (Neale averaged 33 possessions in 2016 and won the Doig). Barlow still played 13 games, had 24 touches a game and finished 8th in the Doig that year. He then went to GC17 as a 30 year old, which meant he wouldn't have to be pushed to the ressies as Freo was rebuilding.
Barlow played 15 more AFL games.
If what was wasted was the opportunity to scrape out a couple more seasons of Michael Barlow past his prime while keeping a younger player out of the team while we finished in the bottom four, then yeah, I guess Lyon wasted him.
Edit: I broke my own rule of trying not to bite on this sort of thing.