Dean Lord, Ryan Turnbull and Dom Bunyan will all return for the Goannas' clash against Coolamon

MCUE play host to Coolamon on Saturday and Rowe confirmed there would be a couple of changes made to the side who defeated Leeton-Whitton by 82 points on the weekend.

"There definitely will be some changes," Rowe said.

"Dean Lord was unavailable last week and he'll come back in then Ryan Turnbull is exactly where we thought he would be.

"We do feel that he's game ready so as long as he gets through training on Thursday night he will come back.

"Then we've also got Dom Bunyan to come back in who was a late withdrawal after being crook last weekend.

"Jono Male is the only confirmed out as he's away with a work commitment this weekend and there will be obviously be a couple of omissions on the back of those guys that come in."

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Rowe will coach his 72^nd and last game for the Goannas this weekend against the Hoppers which brings to an end what he describes as an enjoyable five-year period.

Although noting the personal significance of the occasion, Rowe said his focus was purely on getting the best result possible for the Goannas this weekend.

"It's definitely the end of an era and a really enjoyable five years for myself personally," he said.

"But certainly the clear cut focus is just on the best outcome for the team.

"We've really acknowledged and unpacked that we are going to fall short this season on achieving our goals so the word satisfaction is one we won't be able to draw out of the season now.

"But we've come up with this pride and enjoyment theme which the players have responded really well to.

"We are just wanting to enjoy ourselves as much as we possibly can with the Thursday night training we have left and then the one game we have left.

"We want to play in a way we can make ourselves proud and make our club as proud as what we possibly can given the circumstances.

"Certainly for me it is a little bit different on an individual standpoint heading into your last game at a club and knowing that you are finished before finals.

"But it's very safe to say that it's never been about me and it certainly won't be this weekend."

It's very much been a what could have been season for the Goannas this year as their best football has seen them grab wins over Wagga Tigers and Collingullie-Glenfield Park while they also had a draw against Griffith.

While noting they would not be able to get any satisfaction out of their 2023 campaign, Rowe said the Goannas were still determined to finish on a high and knock off another finals contender in the Hoppers.

"We are really aware that we have fallen short but we are looking at means and ways that we can look back on the season and feel as if we got as much out of it as we possibly could," he said.

"For us it's really about making sure that you don't feel that you were an also ran.

"I think if we can beat Coolamon this weekend then we can reflect on the fact that we beat Tigers twice, hypothetically we beat Coolamon once, we draw with Griffith, we beat Collingullie and we got within four points of Ganmain.

"Then you can as least reflect on the fact that you got it wrong and you didn't quite get to where you wanted to go, but you were a significant part of the competition and were a significant competitor in what's been a really strong RFL season."

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