By Dave Woods BBC Sport

Barrie McDermott could be forgiven for marking down this year's Challenge Cup final as the blackest day in his illustrious career.

McDermott joined Leeds from Wigan in September 1995

Surprisingly left out of the Leeds 17-man squad for the clash with Hull, he could only watch on as his team-mates suffered an agonising defeat in Cardiff.

But the bitter experiences of that day two months ago will all be channelled into making sure his last-ever game as a club professional ends on a note of glory.

The 33-year-old prop takes his final bow as a Super League player on the biggest stage - the Grand Final.

He will play a handful of games for Ireland in the European Nations Cup before slipping into retirement and becoming part of the Leeds coaching staff.

"I reckon I'm one of those blokes whose learned just as much from the bad things that have happened to me as I have from the positive," says McDermott, whose life and playing career have been defined by the loss of his right eye in a shooting accident as a youngster.

"I'd have loved to have played," he says of the Challenge Cup final. "But I don't waste time thinking 'What if?' The lessons I learned from that are good and it makes me even more determined to go out on a high."

Both Leeds and the game at large will miss McDermott's presence on the field.

He has been at the centre of some great battles since signing for his home town club Oldham as a teenager before moving on to play for Wigan, Leeds, Bramley, Ireland and Great Britain.

This current set of players are amongst the best to have played for Leeds Barrie McDermott

But will he miss being at the centre of so many bruising encounters?

"I will miss playing, but I've never been a negative person," he insists.

"I don't see it as the end of my playing career, I see it as the start of the next chapter of my life and I'm delighted it will still be with the Rhinos."

And he believes the last memory will be a happy one, not just because of his own determination to win on Saturday but because of the quality of the team-mates he plays with.

"I believe this current set of players are amongst the best to have played for Leeds," he says.

"If we win back-to-back championships, the bulk of the squad have a decent shout to be considered the best in their position of all time, which is a fantastic achievement.

"We will go into the game against Bradford in confident mood. The preparation we have done has been fantastic, the work we have put in has been first class."