By ADEM SARICAOGLU
ON the last Saturday of September, Brian Lake brilliantly led Hawthorn to its 11th premiership and picked up a Norm Smith Medal along the way.
Twelve months earlier, and still a Western Bulldog, he was sitting in the MCG stands watching his future team-mates lose the 2012 decider to Sydney.
But as the Caroline Springs Football Club’s number one ticket holder and now first member of the Lakers Legends coterie group, Lake has been busy helping his local club raise some funds to upgrade its facilities.
Last weekend Lake was the star of the show at the club’s Ready Steady Jump family day, while a few lucky Hawks fans got to pose with the premiership cup and bid for the shorts and socks he wore in the grand final at Brookside College last week.
“With football clubs you’ve got to be able to turn some money over by having patrons in the place,” Lake told Star.
“The facilities and the bar area for games is just not quite big enough for the team, so I’m trying to help get some better facilities there as quickly as possible.”
But Lake has become more than just a poster boy for the Lakers.
During the season, the All-Australian defender could be seen working the scoreboard on a spare Saturday afternoon or on Sundays wielding the flags as a goal umpire.
And while Lake still believes he has a few good years of AFL footy still left in him, he could well come on board as a Lakers player in coming years.
But he’s not making any promises just yet.
“I’ve still got to make them work hard for it,” he quipped.
