Berrick Barnes suffered through a litany of heart-breaking losses in four seasons with the Reds but a torrent of abuse drained any empathy for old mates after the NSW Waratahs' Super 14 opening round great escape.

A week of pre-match banter bubbled over on and off the field at Suncorp Stadium, finishing with benched five-eighth Barnes pumping his fists in jubilation after a thrilling 30-28 Waratahs victory.

The former Brisbane crowd favourite wasn't subjected to the same level of venom another Red-turned-Waratah, Wendell Sailor, copped in the corresponding grudge match in 2006.

But Barnes copped all that he expected and possibly more from both former teammates and the parochial 22,582-strong crowd in his NSW Super 14 debut following his off-season switch.

Among a number of cramp victims, he was forced to sit on the bench for the final 20 minutes and copped it every moment from an abusive local.

"There was a lot of stuff said to me throughout the week so I don't feel any great amount of remorse for (the Reds loss)," Barnes told AAP on Sunday.

"But in saying that I was impressed with their performance and some of the guys there.

"It was a pretty heated crowd and they were pretty vocal. It was probably worse sitting on the bench there.

"I had a bloke in my ear for 20 minutes there and then we scored at the end he shut up."

Barnes even had members of his family cheering on the Reds, with his father Tom exemplifying their mixed feelings by wearing a specially-made half-NSW, half-Queensland jersey.

But he returned to Sydney on Sunday relieved to have the stressful first-up challenge behind him and looking forward to engineering better backline displays in their two-match tour of South Africa.

The 23-year-old was solid without being spectacular in attack, kept a cool head, kicked four penalties from five with the boot and also slotted a field goal to keep the outplayed Waratahs in the match during his hour on the field.

Leading into the interstate clash, the Wallabies playmaker said former teammates were taking bets on "who would smash me first".

If that were the case, young prop Ben Daley won the bet by engaging in a sideline scuffle in the first minute.

Rival playmaker Quade Cooper pulled off the best hit of the night on Barnes with a legal hip-and-shoulder in a chargedown attempt, while skipper James Horwill pinned him on the ground in a prolonged wrestle in backplay.

"I knew I was going to get a bit of niggle but that's all right though," he said. "It was just a huff and puff really."

"You hear a bit of stuff mate and everything like that but I'll keep that close to my chest. That's why I was pretty relieved (to win).

"There was a lot of stuff that went on last year too with everything and not a lot of people get the right (reasons) about why I made the decision (to leave).

"I'm just happy it's all over now and we can move on and we can worry about footy."

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