Lawson shares the record of 10 national titles with the great Nick Unkovich.
''It would be awesome to have the record on my own,'' he said.
''When I won my first one in 1989, I never thought I'd get 10.
''It would be great to get 11. But I'll have to play well and will need things go my way. But I'm in with a chance.''
Lawson has played in 16 national championship finals. He was always impressed by Unkovich's skills as a fours skip.
''I used to pick his brains all the time,'' Lawson said. ''When I lived in Auckland I used to go around to his house and asked him how he picked his team.''
The Unkovich system was simple.
''They didn't have to be the best players but they had to mould together as a unit,'' Lawson said.
''To be a good fours skip you don't have to be the best player but you must be the best selector.''
Lawson admitted he had not always picked his team successfully but he was confident he had got the mix right this time with Ben King, Dan Delany, Shannon McIlroy and himself.
In an Unkovich team it was the job of the lead to get the bowls close to the jack. The second's job was to add to the count.
''He wasn't worried if his third couldn't draw that well,'' Lawson said.
''He had Danny O'Connor and Jack Somerville at third and they were two of the best smackers in the game.
''They used to open the heads up and Nick would come back on the draw. Nick was noted for his drive but he was also an outstanding draw player.''
Lawson rates Unkovich as the best player at the New Zealand championships in his time.
''At a world level for New Zealand, I would look at Peter Belliss, Phil Skoglund and Rowan Brassey, but at a national level you couldn't go past Unkovich,'' he said.
''He should be in the Hall of Fame.''
The only time Lawson played Unkovich in a national championship final was in Auckland in 1996, when his team of Andrew Curtain, Mike Solomon and Peter Shaw won the fours final.
''That was one of the best finals I've been in,'' Lawson said.
''The atmosphere and tension was electric.
''We got a three on the second-last end to put us five in front. But up until then there had only been one or two shots in it.''
The number of bowlers competing at a national championship had dropped over the years but this did not make it any easier for Lawson.
''You only play one or two less rounds. The quality is always there,'' he said.
''I have put a bit of time into my bowls in the last few weeks. Once you are in the draw you have a starter's chance. The further I go, the better I'll get.''
Lawson has only played in a few bowls tournaments over the past three years and was under-done when he started the pairs at the Andersons Bay green on Saturday.
He decided to come when asked by Black Jack Shannon McIlroy to play in his fours team.
''I had no intention of coming but I was MC at Shannon's wedding earlier in the year and he talked me into playing with him in the fours,'' Lawson said. Lawson has an impressive international record and has won five - two gold, one silver, two bronze - World Bowls medals.
But his focus in the next two weeks will be to add one more title to his national championship collection.
Gary Lawson
The Facts
Age: 48.
Home club: Victoria, Wellington.
Record: World Bowls: 1996, Adelaide, fours (bronze medal), 2004, Ayr, Scotland, triples (silver), fours (bronze); 2008, Christchurch, singles (gold), pairs (gold).
NZ championships: Singles (1989, 1994), pairs (1997, 2008, 2010), fours (1993-4, 1996-97 and 2004).
