An ACL injury kept Lawson on the sidelines throughout the entirety of the 2021 Group 10 season, depriving the Panthers of one of their biggest impact players and one of their most passionate clubmen

He'll finally suit up for the Bathurst men in this Saturday's game away to the Wellington Cowboys.

Lawson said he's never been too far away from the game during his injury but it will be a great experience to have an active part in games again.

"It's basically been two years off footy with COVID in 2020 and the ACL last year. I've only played two games for the Rams at the start of last year and that was just about it," he said.

"I played a bit of knockout footy but not much else, so I've missed it a bit.

"I never really stepped away from the game. I'm a bit obsessed with it, to be honest. I watched most games every weekend, and being at training is my freedom and escape. It's a great chance to socialise with the boys and have a bit of fun."

Despite being away from the game the pre-season environment this year felt very familiar to Lawson, who quickly found his groove.

"Coming back, it doesn't feel any different. It's all muscle memory and it comes to you naturally," he said.

"It will feel a little bit different though being in a different position, back to the old days of out in the centre. That means I've got to make a few tackles these days, which is a bit unfortunate."

Lawson said it will be an interesting experience taking on Group 11 competitors for the first time in a regular season competition but with a strong core group of Panthers together he's confident the team can perform strongly in 2022.

"We've all pretty much been here together for a long time now. We've lost some through injury and others to retirement. People have their own lives and there's things that are more important than footy and that's the way it is," he said.

"This will be a new chapter in our story. Hopefully we can continue from where we have been over the last couple of years. We'll want to continue making improvements and then we can think about being there in September during the big song and dance."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: