It may come as a bit of a surprise to you Nautilus but I agree with you. I live about an hours drive from a stocked impoundment with some good Barra in it. For a fish of their size and weight I would have to say disappointing. I have not caught wild Barra which may be a different story but according to your post not so.
My largest Barra is 112cm and after an initial good run on 30LB line came to the boat like a Labrador to a BBQ; all over in less than 5 minutes. This fish had a weight of approximately 20-25KG. Recently I took a 26KG Cobia on 50LB line and it took me 30 minutes of hard slog to subdue the fish.
Barra fishing has been a marketing ploy by both NT, QLD and to a lesser extent WA to attract fisho tourists and their dollars. The result has been that Barra have turned into an Aussie Icon; a bit of an elitist thing if you will. Wild Barra eat OK but that is all; they do not rate up against some lesser known but infinitely better species some of which you have mentioned.
I may cop some flack also for my thoughts but it is the way I see it.