Brian Lake Biography

Brian Lake is released from custody in Japan without charge after spending six days in jail for an alleged alcohol-fuelled incident.

Lake had been playing in the AFL Asia competition in Osaka and had also recently been in Fiji taking part as a contestant in the filming of reality television show Australian Survivor.

"It's obviously been a tough week for Brian, but he’s looking forward to returning home to see his loved ones," Lake's manager Marty Pask said.

"He's grateful for the support and guidance he received throughout this process, in particular from his legal representation and the Australian Consulate."

Brian Lake remains detained in Japanese custody as his bid to win a release approaches a sixth day.

Lake's legal representatives and Australian agent continue to work with authorities after he was locked up following an alcohol-fuelled altercation in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The former Hawk and Bulldog had been out celebrating after playing for the Indonesian Volcanoes in an AFL Asia tournament in Osaka over the weekend.

"I am currently in Osaka working directly with the consulate and Brian's legal representatives to expedite this process, while respecting the relevant Japanese laws and customs," Lake's manager Marty Pask said.

"My priority is with Brian's wellbeing and getting him home to his wife and kids, who are understandably distressed."

Brian Lake spends the night detained by authorities after being arrested following an alcohol-fuelled evening in Japan.

The former Hawk and Bulldog had been out celebrating after playing for the Indonesian Volcanoes in an AFL Asia tournament in Osaka over the weekend.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was aware of the issue.

Josh Gibson has poured cold water on former Hawthorn teammate Brian Lake's suggestion that the club was looking to retire two veterans a season as it makes the transition from one era to another.

Lake told RSN that his departure from the Hawks was part of a plan the club had to move on two senior players per season, and that David Hale and he were the first.

"I did want to play on, but you could see with their list what they were trying to do," Lake said.

"I think they were going to go [retire] two, two and two with the older guys, and me and David Hale were probably the guys to go first – and that did happen."

However Gibson queried where Lake had got his information from and said the last thing his teammates were thinking about on the eve of the season was retirement.

"I don't know where Lakey has got that from," Gibson said.

"Maybe he's getting into the coach's box, I don't know. Right now no one is thinking about retirements. We're focusing on having a big 2016 season."

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says the fact Brian Lake and David Hale had shown signs their bodies were breaking down throughout the season led to the decisions for them to retire.

"With 'Lakey' and 'Haley'... the thing that we observed through our testing of our players … we noticed with both those boys they were starting to wane in terms of what they were able to contribute on-field as a result of their physical capabilities," Clarkson said.

Brian Lake declares suburban team Caroline Springs as his likely destination after his departure from Hawthorn.

"The body is going fine, I think my form is reasonably good as well, (so) I'd love to go again," Lake said.

"This year I played 22 games (and) the club didn't expect that.

"You'd say this was a fairytale finishing after three premierships, but I love football."

Lake says a return to playing with the Western Bulldogs was appealing but unlikely.

"To go back to my old club the Western Bulldogs for a year would be a fairytale," Lake said.

"(But) I'm very much retired and looking forward to local football.

"I'd like to do some part-time coaching (at somewhere like) the Doggies and help their list get up and going."

Triple-premiership players David Hale and Brian Lake have announced their retirements from Hawthorn.

Both veterans played in the Hawks' premiership trifecta of 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Brian Lake says he is not ready to call an end to his career with Hawthorn delaying talks on his future at the club until the end of the season.

"I think I'm still very capable, even at my age ... that I can take and stand on the key forwards," he said.

"I have plenty left to give."

Lake did not hide his disappointment at having to wait until the end of the season to learn his fate.

"As a 33-year-old, you like to know what's going to happen for next year," he said.

"Leaving it to the end of the season, if we do play in a Grand Final, it's October 3 and you stop getting paid on October 31.

"So you have 20 days to find a job."

Hawthorn will wait until the end of year before deciding Brisn Lake's future.

"We're probably just going to leave it until the end of the year – we've done that with a lot of our older players," Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said.

"It's not particularly great for them but they understand the process that we go through in terms of some of our vintage players on our list."

Brian Lake says he wants his football future decided in the next six weeks so he can focus on Hawthorn's finals campaign.

The veteran fullback is out of contract at the end of this year, but is keen to play on into a 15th season.

"You don't want to leave it to the last game of the year, because you do have to work out things. If football's not that, you've obviously then got to get a job somewhere," Lake said.

"If it's down at Centrelink and putting my paperwork in, I'll have to get down there and get that done pretty quickly.

"So, yeah, you'd like to find out before finals just to get that out the way and you can worry about finals when they come."

Brian Lake says he wants to play on beyond 2015.

"I'd love to go again. I think it's exciting being in a place where we've had some success and we're still playing some reasonably good football," Lake said.

"The body's probably the best it's been since I've been at Hawthorn and the last couple of years at the Bulldogs as well.

"I guess the challenge when you're 33 years old, it's about the mind - if you can keep rocking up every day."

The Hawks will be without Brian Lake for about a month after the key defender twisted his left knee in a marking contest during the first quarter of the Hawks' eight-point loss to Port Adelaide.

The defender immediately hobbled from the field and had his knee strapped, but couldn't return to the action and was subbed out of the game soon after.

"Brian had a scan yesterday and it revealed some damage to his medial ligament. We think he's going to be about four weeks. The good thing is he didn't have to go into a cast, or a brace," Hawks general manager of football operations Chris Fagan said.

Brian Lake strains his medial ligament and will undergo scans to determine the extent of his injury.

Lake tried to barrel Power spearhead Jay Schulz out of a contest deep in attack in the opening term, twisting his knee in the process.

He tried to continue after having his left knee strapped only to be subbed late in the quarter.

Brian Lake will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday for the offence of driving while suspended.

Hawthorn said in statement that Lake had notified the club at the time of the offence and explained he was unaware that he had exceeded his demerit point limit.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says he is confident key defender Brian Lake said nothing offensive to Geelong forward Mitch Clark during Monday's game at the MCG and is disappointed the 33-year-old's name has been connected with the allegations.

"I'm disappointed for 'Lakey'. It's a bit difficult to clear your name when it's already been put out there," Clarkson said.

"I know through speaking to him and our other players that he said nothing of the sort, so to have his name smeared by people who just allege that he said something makes it more difficult."

Earlier, Clark himself had denied, via Twitter, outing Lake and says he is keen to put the matter behind.

"Reports are completely false. Never named Brian Lake. Story blown way out of proportion and I wanna just get on with the footy," Clark tweeted.

Brian Lake is named by Geelong as the player to have allegedly sledged Mitch Clark about his mental illness.

Lake, however, remains adamant he did not vilify the new Cats forward.

Whilst Hawthorn has neither officially confirmed or denied the event, the club has agreed that Clark's challenges in dealing with depression should be off limits during verbal exchanges on the field.

"We have found it difficult to get clarity on what was said and by whom," a statement from Hawthorn said.

"However, both clubs agree that any comments made regarding a person's mental health issues are completely inappropriate and out of bounds on the footy field."

Mitch Clark has told friends he was severely "embarrassed" by reports he was verbally sledged about his depression during the Easter Monday Geelong-Hawthorn clash, describing the incident as "water off a duck's back" and that he was disappointed the story had become public.

Although he later mentioned an incident to his football boss Steve Hocking, Clark has told the club he does not want the issue further investigated.

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson says Hawthorn chased free agent James Frawley with an eye to unshackling veteran defenders Brian Lake and Josh Gibson and swinging them into attack next season.

"We've been unable to play Brian Lake, in his two years at our club, forward at any stage – unless it's been a real pinch-hit," Clarkson said.

"The same with Gibson … and Stratton hasn't played another position other than in the back end.

"That's why we chased after James - to give us that flexibility."

Brian Lake has revealed he played in the preliminary final and Grand Final against medical advice, after being hospitalised with internal bleeding early in the finals series.

Lake suffered a corked hip against Collingwood in round 23 but felt it worsen late in the third term against Geelong in the qualifying final.

It felt even worse during the last quarter, and Lake told Triple M that he knew something was seriously wrong, lying awake early the following morning.

Tests revealed he had internal bleeding and he underwent surgery to halt it.

"I got 100ml of blood drained out of my right hip… straight after the [Geelong] game to relieve some of the pressure," Lake said.

"But about 3 o'clock in the morning, I gave the wife a tap on the shoulder and said 'I think you might need to drive me to the hospital'.

"I was in hospital for three days and ended up having an operation – I burst a blood vessel around the abdomen, so we had to go in and block that up to stop the bleeding.

"I was able to recover…the doctor actually didn't give a good report on it. He said I probably shouldn't play for the rest of the year - but the club doctor said 'he's just talking crap, that guy'."

Brian Lake says free agency helped him move to the Hawks two years ago and avoid potentially being "held to ransom" as a senior player nearing the end of his career.

"They know it's so hard to change clubs at that stage in your career – it's not like you're going to get a three or four-year deal," Lake said.

"So they can name their price contract wise, say 'here you go' and you've got to sign it.

"It gives older guys a chance to keep playing [in the] AFL. Just because you hit 30 years old it doesn't mean you should be finished and retired."

Brian Lake has signed a contract extension with Hawthorn, agreeing to play on for a 14th season.

"Brian has contributed exactly what we wanted over the past two years, and has finished this season in good form," Hawks recruiting and list manager Graham Wright said.

"We look forward to his continued involvement at Hawthorn Football Club in 2015."

Brian Lake believes his four-match suspension in the lead-up to September has helped his preparation for Saturday's Grand Final rematch against the Sydney Swans.

"I knew the suspension was only four weeks so you've just got to take the positives out of it; I haven't had a break that close to finals in my career," Lake said.

"So you freshen up the mind and the body, get four weeks of fitness in and I was always going to be better for it."

Brian Lake is found guilty of misconduct at the Tribunal on Tuesday night and will miss four matches for his choker hold on North Melbourne forward Drew Petrie.

In a controversial case that sparked much debate, Lake was sent directly to the Tribunal to answer a charge of forcefully applying his hand to Petrie's throat where there was a risk of serious injury.

He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of rough conduct – "aggressive wrestling" – and argued he was not applying pressure to Petrie's throat but rather grabbing at his opponent's jumper.

In a marathon hearing, the jury of David Neitz, Richard Loveridge and Wayne Schimmelbusch deemed his offence to be worth 410 points, inclusive of a 10 per cent loading for his bad record.

An emotional Lake spoke after the hearing and said he respected the jury's decision.

"It's been a tough couple of days for myself and my family, it's just great to come here and get my point across on what happened," he said.

"I respect the jury's decision on the four weeks and I've just got to look forward to a tough four-week period of training and getting my body right.

"Leading into finals I've got three weeks (after the ban ends) to get my match fitness and look for a big September."

The tribunal will be called upon to decide a penalty for Brian Lake's choke-hold on Drew Petrie, which occurred during the third quarter of Friday night's clash between Hawthorn and North Melbourne.

Lake was charged with misconduct by the Match Review Panel on Monday, but the panel opted against reaching its own finding on the matter.

For his part in the fracas, Petrie was cited for making unreasonable and unnecessary contact with the face of Lake.

The MRP slapped him with a one-match suspension after grading the incident as negligent, low impact and high contact

But Petrie can accept a reprimand and 93.75 carryover points if he pleads guilty.

Drew Petrie has played down his clash with Hawthorn defender Brian Lake in a case that seems destined for the AFL Tribunal.

Petrie backed away from comments he made post-match that he was "nearly asleep there for a moment" when Lake appeared to apply a choker hold on him during the Kangaroos' win on Friday night.

He told The Sunday Footy Show he wasn't scared as Lake held him down with a hand around his throat for an extended period, saying, "I'm OK with it. It's a physical game, things happen in games".

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says Brian Lake let his teammates down during a third-quarter brain fade in the Hawks' clash against the Kangaroos.

After Lake tackled Drew Petrie on the wing, the pair scuffled with the Hawthorn defender having his hands firmly on Petrie's throat as Petrie retaliated to Lake's face.

Lake had comprehensively lost his battle Petrie, conceding five goals in two-and-a-half quarters before Clarkson moved Ryan Schoenmakers on to the big Roo.

"He let himself down and he let his teammates down and the game was right in the balance at that time," Clarkson said.

"He's been pretty good for us (but) he was pretty average tonight and we're disappointed with that. But we move on and we hope that he responds from that."

Brian Lake and Cyril Rioli face late starts to 2014 after being handed bans for transgressions during the 2013 Grand Final against Fremantle.

Brian Lake plays a significant hand in the Hawks' 2013 Grand Final win over Fremantle, claiming the Norm Smith medal for being best on ground in the process.

After playing in three losing preliminary finals with the Western Bulldogs between 2008 to 2010, Brian Lake will play in his first Grand Final with Hawthorn in 2013 after the Hawks defeated the Cats in a thrilling preliminary final.

"You've got to celebrate good wins like that but that's not our Grand Final," Lake said.

"We've got another game to worry about, all the guys will be watching tomorrow night, and that's what we've got to put our focuses on."

Brian Lake says teammate Lance Franklin is still contributing to the side despite being kept goalless in his last two matches.

"He's bringing the ball to ground, and other guys in the forward line are contributing as well," Lake said.

"Obviously for him personally, he'd like to be kicking goals, but what he's doing for the side now is he's doing his role."

Josh GIbson says fellow defender Brian Lake is desperate to make his Hawks debut but it will not be easy to slot into the side.

"Everyone wants to be playing senior footy, especially at a new club," Gibson said.

"It'd be a nice little delicacy if we could slot him in there, but so far the guys have been doing a fantastic job.

"So if he gets up to play, that'd be great, but we can't rely on hoping that he's going to play."

Ryan Schoenmakers says he is happy to have Brian Lake help him in defence but admits he is still unsure of what his role will be in 2013.

"He's going to be a great inclusion so it's going to be great to play alongside him and it will definitely help the defence, I guess," Schoenmakers said of Lake.

"I'm not really sure what 'Clarko' [Alastair Clarkson] has planned. I had a bit of a run up there [forward] in the NAB Cup so that was good fun, but I'm not really sure what he has got planned for this season."

Hawthorn will not suspend or fine Brian Lake after the key defender was arrested following drunken night out with his wife.

"I see this as a reasonable step back, but what I'm looking forward to now is getting back to what I was doing in those previous three months and gaining the respect again from the players and everyone involved in the football club," Lake told reporters at Waverley.

"There's no credits in the bank, no – I'm going to gain them by training hard."

Hawks recruit Brian Lake is detained and fined by police after a drunken exit from a Sorrento Hotel.

Lake and his wife Shannon were both arrested and spent about four hours in custody each was issued with a $563 penalty notice.

"Police arrested a 30-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman, both from Caroline Springs, for drunken behaviour on Point Nepean Highway, Sorrento, about 10.10pm yesterday," a police spokesperson confirmed.

Hawthorn recruit Brian Lake says he left the Bulldogs because he had a point to prove and also to chase a premiership flag.

"For me, it (leaving the Bulldogs) is to prove a lot of people wrong, they had written me off saying my body was shot and my knee was horrendous," Lake said.

"I saw Hawthorn as a perfect fit, at my age now, I don't know how much time I would have had at the Bulldogs to move on and hunt down that elusive flag that everyone dreams of having."

Hawthorn recruit Brian Lake says he has plenty of good football after dealing with injuries for the last 3 years.

"I'm looking forward to a full pre-season, which I haven't had in a couple of years," Lake said.

"I'm very confident in my body. I've got a contract for the next two years, but I can see myself playing for a lot longer than that.

Lake says he looks forward to playing a part in Hawthorn's premiership charge in 2013.

"I went to the Grand Final this year, and the atmosphere and the build-up to the game, you just want to be part of it," he said.

Brian Lake has reported taken a $200,000 pay cut to be part of Hawthorn's premiership contending list.

Hawthorn has pulled off a Trade Period coup, securing star defender Brian Lake from the Western Bulldogs in a trade also involving the exchange of draft picks.

"Pretty happy for Brian and Brian's pretty excited," Lake's manager Marty Pask said.

"Brian's a free agent next year, so it was a chance for the Western Bulldogs to have some control over what compensation pick they're going to get.

"He's put in 197 games, played in three preliminary finals, won a best-and-fairest, All Australian, and he's going to allow the club now to consolidate itself in the national draft."

Drew Petrie takes the lead in the race for the Coleman Medal with 52 goals after a five-goal haul against the Bulldogs.

"He's still got four games to go so if he ends up on top it'd be great for our football club and great for Drew," teammate Brent Harvey said.

"But if he doesn't, I don't think Drew plays for the individual awards. His goal is to get us into the finals and he's doing an exceptional job at the minute."



Bulldog star Brian Lake says his younger defensive teammates have helped him rediscover his dominant form this year.

"The improvement in the side defensively has really helped myself," he said.

"We've had some injuries to some key players down back, and the enjoyment I'm getting out of teaching some of the young guys down there [with] 'Aussie' (Mark Austin) coming into the side and obviously Lukas Markovic earlier in the year, it's given me a new outlook on football and I'm really flourishing from that this year."

Brian Lake says 2011 was a season of frustration.

"It's hard (because) you don't want to express your feelings out and show that, and I guess it can be perceived that I was disinterested, (that) I didn't want to be out there. But that was far from it," Lake said.

"It was just the frustration building up inside that I didn't want to express out there because I obviously can have a little bit of a temper now and then. I just wanted to hold that in and (it) probably didn't come across too well."

New Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney says Brian Lake has dropped several kilograms as he aims to reach full fitness ahead of the new season.

"That's probably a testimony to the fact that he understands that at this stage of his career he's got to optimise everything," McCartney said.

"I probably prodded him (Lake) about Matthew Scarlett and seeing him play so lean and light and so powerfully at that stage of his career, I found it quite inspirational.

"And Brian picked up on that and understands he's been seen in that same echelon of player and with that comes a real responsibility to prepare well and do everything right."

Brian Lake is progressing according to plan as he recovers from a knee injury that ended his 2011 season.

"Brian is progressing according to the plan that was set for him following the conclusion of 2011," Bulldogs head of physical performance Bill Davoren told The Age.

"While he is still in the rehabilitation group, we are very pleased with his progress. He has graduated to a high volume training phase."

Bulldogs full-back Brian Lake has improved his running and is tipped to be back in All Australian form in 2012.

"There was a massive limp there last year. He's improved on that. He's another one who has had no setbacks to date, so that, as a coaching group, we're happy with," Bulldogs assistant coach Brett Montgomery said.

"The way he's thrown himself into his rehab, the way he's thrown himself into the education sessions, he's trying to lead from the front, something he probably hasn't done for 12 months for a number of reasons."

New Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney says he will meet with Brian Lake to discuss the full-back's future at the club.

"What we will do is make every effort to cover off any player we feel is unsettled or may need to talk to us," McCartney said.

"Where a player sits, emotionally and mentally, in the club is really important. It's important we understand where he sees himself and what he thinks he offers the club."

Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade is "100 per cent" confident dual All Australian Brian Lake will be at Whitten Oval next year.

"While they were inside there was a bit of corrective surgery they could do, which was non urgent; it's like having a player at the end of the year having an assessment and going for a tidy up," Eade said.

"We had a discussion for a week or so and thought, what's the best scenario for next year, and it was to get him ready for day one of pre-season."

Western Bulldogs defender Brian Lake requires surgery on his knee and will miss the rest of the season.

Western Bulldogs star Adam Cooney has launched a spirited defence of teammate Brian Lake who has been under the pump for his lack of form this year.

"A lot of people have been canning him this year, which I think is pretty unfair," Cooney said.

"Kicking a bloke when he's down is not great, but it's a pretty fickle industry, footy."

Ex-Bulldogs captain Brad Johnson says Brian Lake may return to the AFL side as a forward, but will need to play in defence if the Dogs make the finals.

"I think if he comes back in the Bulldogs' side, you'll see him spot as a forward," Johnson said on Fox Sports' On the Couch.

"He's gone from defence to forward so he can dictate a bit more of his movement; more so as a forward than being reactive to someone as a defender and then having to drop off."

The Western Bulldogs have firmly told Brian Lake that his long-term future lies with them despite a turbulent year where he has been regularly relegated to VFL ranks.

"There is no way he is going to be traded. He is a required player," Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia said.

"He has been told 1000 per cent that that's the case."

Western Bulldogs assistant coach Brett Montgomery says Brian Lake is struggling to find form and confidence while playing with an injury.

"It's not a significant groin, but it's enough to complicate and make his fight back and performance even harder," Montgomery said.

"But I would say of what we've seen this year, him battling injury and playing with injury, he's struggling to do that."

Brian Lake did everything he could to recover from three bouts of preseason surgery says teammate Dale Morris.

"The physios, the trainers, everyone has been into him and pushing him and he's just stepped up to the challenge every session that he's gone to," Morris said.

"He's been doing everything he can, and he'll continue doing that. What he's been through in the offseason with his three operations - I think people underestimate how big those operations were."

Brian Lake's manager Ricky Olarenshaw has denied the Bulldogs' full-back is looking to continue his career at another club next season.

"Brian has never said that he wants out of the Bulldogs. He knows that he's got two years to go [on his current contract] and his priority at the moment is to get his body right and find his form," Olarenshaw said.

"He wouldn't have signed a four-year deal if he didn't want to be at the Bulldogs."

Brian Lake was rusty against the Hawks on Sunday, and was kept clear of a rampaging Lance Franlkin, but showed some signs of regaining form.

"He fumbled a bit here and there but I was very pleased with his work rate," Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said.

"He pushed up and manned up, but I thought his work rate was there and the thing is that he's such a quality player that we have to keep on playing him for as long as he can get through the games."

Brian Lake will spend at least the next three weeks playing for Williamstown and not undertaking a 'mini pre-season' according to coach Rodney Eade.

"Brian you could see there was some concern about him on Sunday when we played and he struggled to run a bit in the last half," Eade said.

"The way he was going at the moment, there was no sense in keeping him playing and Brian knew that himself because his confidence was down and he hasn't got confidence in his body. We just needed to formulate a plan to get him back as soon as possible."

All Australian full-back Brian Lake has been dropped to find form in the VFL.

"We've sat down with Brian and devised a plan that's best for him and the club to get him into that form and also get some confidence up for where his body's at," Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said.

"He's coming off some significant injuries. He probably came back a little bit too early but that's what you do when you've got quality players to bring in; you want to get him in as early as you can."

Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade says All-Australian full back Brian Lake could be dropped to the VFL due to concerns over his form and fitness.

"He's got a bit of worry about his knee," Eade said.

"So we've got to make a decision about what's best for Brian and for the football team. Is it best for Brian to go back to Williamstown until he gets that confidence?"

Western Bulldogs defender Brian Lake has had a second hip operation but the club insists he will be right for round one.

"We would have preferred him not to have it done but it was just a service and tune up," backline coach Peter Dean said.

"It flared up a bit. It was on the cards to get done again anyway and there was a schedule of getting his knee done first. Both couldn't be done at the same time because one needed to be rehabbed before the other so he could get some strength in."

Western Bulldogs defender Brian Lake incurs the wrath of coach Rodney Eade who made him the target of a post-match spray following the Bulldogs' win over Hawthorn.

"I thought he was playing for them with the way he kicked the ball back to them," Eade said of Lake's game.

"There are a few elements of his game that he's got to work on and listen to the coach and coaching staff rather than do it his own way."

Lake responds saying that he needs to continue to improve.

"There's always something. You can never play the perfect game," Lake said.

"It's more when I've got the ball than when I don't that he talks to me about. There's a few things where there's room for improvement."

Bulldog Brian Lake discusses the controversial free kick he gave away in last year's preliminary final which resulted in a subsequent Riewoldt goal and a change in momentum.

"In the heat of the battle, a few of the opposition players mentioned, 'It might have cost your side a Grand Final spot'," Lake said.

"I can't go into it too much, but I think I was a little stiff. It's a body contact sport. I thought it was fair. It wasn't high. It wasn't in the back."

"It wasn't as if we were targetting him or anything. When he was in the vicinity we wanted to make body contact. You have to bring your presence to the game."

Western Bulldog Brian Lake ties the knot with long-time love Shannon O'Malley at a church wedding in Adelaide on new year's eve.

"We never know what to do on New Year's Eve so we thought this way we're giving everyone a party," O'Malley said.

"We wanted to have all our family and close friends there."

Defender Brian Lake has agreed in principle to a new deal with the Western Bulldogs, with only minor details to be worked out.

Lake is believed to have been given an ultimatum by the club to re-sign or face the prospect of being reluctantly traded by the club.

Lake's manager Ricky Olerenshaw told radio station SEN that his client was never seriously considering leaving the Bulldogs and had agreed to sign a new contract on Tuesday night.

Western Bulldogs defender Brian Lake has signed a four-year deal that should see him at the club for the remainder of his career.

"It will take me to 31 and I'll spend the rest of my life at the Western Bulldogs and be a one-club player," Lake said.

"They gave me the opportunity in 2001 after taking me with pick 71. They took the punt. Over time I've repaid them and no doubt a four-year contract will see out my days here."

Western Bulldogs' Brian Lake is in no doubt who is the toughest opponent he has faced - Barry Hall.

''Barry Hall has stitched me up a bit, so I'd have to say he was the toughest I've played on this year,'' Lake said.

''They're all reasonably tough but it really depends on the guys up the field and the midfield pressure. If the ball comes in easily, there's not really much you can do as a defender.''

Defender Brian Lake is unlikely to sign a new contract until the Bulldogs season is over.

"We would have liked to have progressed it earlier, but when we sat down, we realised, from where we sit, he has no intentions of moving," football operations manager James Fantasia said.

"We are quite comfortable with saying let's leave it until the end of the season, and really concentrate on this campaign we have before us, and that's what we've done."

Western Bulldog Brian Lake and his partner Shannon O'Malley welcome the addition of a healthy baby girl to their family.

Lake and O'Malley opted to have the birth induced in time for the finals.

Western Bulldogs key defender Brian Lake attracts plenty of interest from rival clubs as contract talks between him and the club are put off until after the season.

"We don't think we're too far away. Brian has indicated he wants to stay. We just need to be able to come to an agreement," Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia said.

Bulldogs backman Ryan Hargrave believes he has teammate Jarrod Harbrow to thank for his reinvention as a running defender this season.

"Dale Morris and Brian Lake have been playing more of the key position defender roles, which has helped, while Jarrod has definitely contributed to the move as well," Hargrave said.

"He's taking the small defender, which means I'm getting the one in the middle whereas I used to be on a key tall or a key small and I've had to concentrate on them.

"It's left me with more of an attacking role from defence, which has been really good. I've really enjoyed it."

Scott Welsh and Brian Lake are considering all options and may decide to fight their one-match bans at the tribunal .

The match review panel handed down the bans after viewing footage from Saturday's match against the Sydney Swans, with Welsh charged with rough conduct against Jared Crouch, and Lake charged with tripping Jarrad Moore.

Brian Lake, Daniel Kerr and Mitch Robinson will contest charges at the tribunal tonight.

The Dogs have accepted a ban for key forward Scott Welsh but decided to get backman Brian Lake available for Friday night's game against Richmond.

Hawthorn captain Sam Mitchell has virtually a one-game penalty hanging over him again despite being allowed to escape with a reprimand from a striking charge.

Bulldog Brian Lake says his evolution as a backman is still a work in progress as he strives to become a more rounded defensive weapon.

Brian Lake is accused by Richmond coach Terry Wallace and Tiger Nathan Brown of feigning an injury to avoid taking a crucial kick for goal.

With the Bulldogs trailing in the last quarter, Lake took a contested pack mark only to hobble off the ground with the kick being awarded to teammate Will Minson instead.

Will Minson duely kicks a goal which results in a drawn game between the two sides.

Terry Wallace voices his opinion on Lake's injury saying that he is sure Lake will be available to play in the coming match.

Nathan Brown also agrees with his coach saying that Lake's tactics were 'clever'.

"I don't think Brian was injured, I just think Brian was very clever. He got the kick to someone else, they got the two points which was what he wanted. I think it was very clever from Brian," Brown said.

The Bulldogs reject any claim that Lake was fit enough at the time to take the kick.

"He certainly tightened up there, no doubt about that," Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said.

"There's no tear. There's no damage to the muscle. He's never done a hamstring before and it's foreign to him. He didn't know what it was."

The AFL also weighs in on the debate by conceding that Will Minson should not have been given the kick that should have taken, instead, by Scott Welsh or Cameron Wight.

Bulldog Brian Harris changes his official name to Brian Lake.

Harris is Lake's mother's maiden name who was unmarried to his father of the same name at the time of his birth.

"I had the chance to change to Lake when Mum and Dad married when I was 10 or 11, but I decided not to." Lake said.

Following the birth of his son, Cohen Ashton, Lake felt that he needed to carry on the family name of his father who's siblings consist only of sisters.