SHELDON McIntyre continues to come up big for the Cockburn Cougars but just weeks after celebrating his 200th SBL game he would love nothing more than to call time on his career with a second championship with the club that's been his home for most of his life.

McIntyre has already had a tremendous career with the Cougars having played in the 2012 championship when he was vice-captain and having now earned life membership by playing 200 games, but the 29-year-old is far from content just yet.

While he does admit that the 2016 season is likely his last with the Cougars in the SBL, the dream of retiring with a second championship is still well and truly a reality for McIntyre.

Having finished the regular season in top spot, Cockburn beat the Perry Lakes Hawks in three games in the quarter finals and then went to Geraldton last Saturday night to win Game 1 over the Buccaneers to now need just one win at Wally Hagan Stadium this weekend to make the Grand Final.

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McIntyre will play his last game at Wally Hagan Stadium either on Saturday night or Sunday depending if the Buccs are able to force a Game 3 or not.

That is a good enough way to end in its own right but the opportunity now presents to potentially finish with a Grand Final, and maybe even a championship and that's something difficult to not dream about for the 204-game veteran.

"If we were able to win a championship that would be a hell of a way to go out and there might be a couple of other guys in the same boat. That's been the goal all season and certainly nothing's changed," McIntyre said.

"I think we have the team that can do it even though losing Gav hurts us a bit given he's our captain and one of our best scorers, but we have talked a lot about our depth and with the group we have it would be a hell of a way to go out winning the championship."

The highlight of McIntyre's career undoubtedly so far has been the 2012 championship triumph.

While there were a couple of difficult years straight after for the Cougars and the majority of those championship winners have now moved on including coach Stephen Charlton, the last two years have seen Cockburn rise back up the standings.

Last year it was a tremendous performance to finish fourth before losing in the quarter finals and now the Cougars are minor premiers again and one win from the Grand Final.

McIntyre has enjoyed being part of both groups and is glad to get the chance to experience some success with the likes of Rhett Della and Dan Thomas this year.

"It's an interesting one because we obviously had a fairly big decline straight after we won the championship missing playoffs the following couple of years and we did have a pretty high turnover," he said.

"But if you can get a good, core group of Australian players who have played together for a couple of years and add two quality imports then that's really what you need to win a championship.

"We've got a really nice balance within the team and we might be the oldest team in the league, but bringing back that experience with Rhett and DT along with the younger guys who have developed like Jules and even guys like Matej Mandic and Jake Harris, and we've got the perfect mix. That's what championships are based on."

While the championship and finals success has been a highlight for McIntyre, he had a memorable night in the final regular season game this year when he celebrated his 200th game and was rewarded with life membership of the Cougars.

The club put in an emotional ceremony for him before the game including a speech by his sister, fellow life member and SBL commissioner Fleur. Then the Cougars went on to beat the Joondalup Wolves to lock in top spot and it's a night he will never forget.

"Obviously for the team it was a huge win as much as anything to get the knowledge that we can match it with the Wolves and even beat them given even now they are still the favourites to take the whole thing out with the experience they have from last year's Grand Final." McIntyre said.

"To get that one win was big for us and in terms of the night itself, I've played down at Cockburn since I was seven years of age so to be part of the life members now who are on the wall with some of the legends of the club is really special.

"This is very much likely to be my last SBL season so it was a nice way to finish the regular season but as a team it gave us a nice springboard to push into the finals with a bit of momentum."

While McIntyre will have great memories of the wins he's enjoyed with the Cougars, the club means much more to him than that and it has been a big part of his life as long as he can remember, and will continue to be even if he does retire at the end of this season.

"As much as anything it's just the people down here. There are guys within the SBL program and the club as a whole who have been here since I was a little kid and the amount of time they give to this club is unbelievable," he said.

"I know every club has the same sort of story with the volunteers who give up so much of their team for the love of their club, and it makes you want to play and to give back to the club because of the great people here.

"It's been an absolute privilege to play SBL for Cockburn because it really is a family club. I grew up playing with guys like Gav and Stevie so it's amazing to be all part of the same team now."

As for McIntyre's current coach Matt Parsons, he has been tremendously impressed with what he has done for the Cougars the past two years and believes he deserves as much credit for the success as the players do.

"Matt's biggest strength as a coach is that he brings people together and he can build a team, and he has people buy in to a system and a structure," McIntyre said.

"He has done a great job to get the quality of imports that he's got the last couple of years and to get guys back to the club who are Cockburn juniors and went to other teams.

"To bring a group together and have them willing to sacrifice minutes for the better of the team is his major strength, and that's what he has done sensationally over the last couple of years.

"We owe our success as much to him as we do ourselves to try and win it this year because he has put in so much time and effort into it as have all the assistant coaches and support staff."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin