Barellan coach Alex Lawder hopes his time at the Two Blues does not end on Saturday

Lawder will make the trip to Ardlethan Sportsground on Saturday in the knowledge that it might be his final game in Two Blue colours.

Lawder will step down as coach at season's end and retire but hopes Barellan can extend their season and break their finals drought with an upset of Northern Jets.

Barellan need to beat the Jets and also bank on Temora upsetting Charles Sturt University.

Making Barellan's task harder is the loss of Jason Taylor, Emerson Cody and Shaun Bourchier for the Jets clash.

"At the end of the day, there's a lot on the line but we'll back ourselves in. If you're not optimistic as a coach then what are you doing it for?" Lawder said.

"I know our best is good enough to beat anyone on the day. Obviously it gets a little bit tougher losing key players but the guys that are coming in have all played senior footy so we're under no illusions as to what we're up against, beating the Jets."

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If it is to be Lawder's final game at Barellan, he will finish up with no regrets.

"It was a once in a lifetime thing, it's probably the best thing I've ever done, to be honest," he said.

"I stepped down from Queanbeyan in 2020 to spend more time with my kids and I've managed to get another three years of footy out and I've loved every minute. It's the best thing I've ever done.

"They're the most amazing people. I wish I could keep doing it. I wish they were closer, it's so awesome."

Lawder has performed the role of coach for the past three seasons from Canberra. The 38-year-old acknowledges the kilometres he's clocked up but said a great deal of fun was had in the process.

"We leave at 7.30am and we'll get there at 12.15pm-ish. That's with two stops," he explained.

"It's all just about having fun."

After serious shoulder and knee injuries ended his seasons early in 2021 and 2022, Lawder is pleased he gets to go out this year on his terms.

"One hundred per cent. When I done my shoulder in my first year at Barellan, the physio told me you'll struggle to get back and I wanted to prove them wrong," he said.

"Last year, doing my knee, they said at your age you should probably pull up stumps, you might not come back from this and I did, I wanted to finish on my terms.

"I am really stoked to be able to play close to a full season, barring a couple for a hammy nick. I mentioned that to the guys at training the other day, this is probably the most games I've played in a season for five years, with the injuries I've had.

"Footy can be taken away. There's a lot of blokes that it's not until they get a serious injury and miss work and realise they can't afford to miss work and people do hang up the boots pretty early.

"I've had a good run, been able to play at some good footy clubs and been able to be involved with a lot of different people and people's lives. That's the main thing I'll look back on is those friendships and close bonds."

Lawder is also proud of the improvement he has been able to oversee at Barellan, regardless of the result against the Jets on Saturday.

"In my first year, we won three games. Last year we won five games and a draw. This year we're sitting on seven wins and have lost four games by under 10 points, plus another game to Marrar by 14," he said.

"I'm happy and proud of the improvement we've shown and we've actually turned our whole list around.

"It's the old cliche, as a coach when you takeover a club, you're job is to leave them in a better position then when you took over and I'm pretty confident I've done that so that's the one thing that will sit with me."

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