WESTERN Bulldogs’ defender Brian Lake supports Senior Coach Rodney Eade in bringing Tom Williams straight back into the senior side when he recovers from a thigh strain suffered in the VFL at the weekend.
Williams, 22, has battled shoulder and thigh injuries that have restricted him to six games this year, but regular full-back Lake says his strength and size warranted him bypassing Williamstown when he is passed fit to play in round 21 or 22.
“We just need that extra tall defender who can play at centre half-back or full-back and chop and change with me, but Tom’s just been unlucky that he keeps getting these little niggles that have cost him games,” Lake said on Thursday.
“Hopefully he can get himself right for the pointy end of the season. It’s been hard luck for him and when he’s in the side he certainly makes the jobs of those around him easier.
“There’s no doubt when he’s in the side we’re a better side. The way we’ve played we’ve been pretty lucky that sides haven’t gone really tall on us … but we’ve been flexible enough to handle sides in his absence.
“If we’re going to be coming up against teams like Geelong and Hawthorn in the finals we need Tom to be playing.”
With a first-up final all but locked in against a Hawthorn side featuring twin towers Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead, Lake backed Williams to play an important role.
“Last time we played them we had Tom in the team and he did a good job on Franklin even though he kicked five with a couple of them cheap ones,” he said.
With ladder leaders Geelong 10 points clear of the two teams and the fourth-placed Swans more than three games in arrears, Lake admitted it was a strange scenario to be faced with a month out from the end of the home and away season.
“Obviously we know that we’re most likely going to play the Hawks in the first week of the finals, but we’ve got a process in place for the next month; we’ve got a lot of areas that we’ve got to work on before that game,” he said.
“We’ve got four more games to go against some good sides so we’ve still got to try a few things, but also make sure that we get our basics right.”
