BRIAN Lake declared suburban team Caroline Springs as his likely destination after his departure from Hawthorn, but another club from Melbourne's west should also register its interest.
The Western Bulldogs are in the market for a key defender and if they can't pry an established one from another club, they could do a lot worse than sound out the man they traded to the Hawks three seasons ago – especially if they believe their rapidly developing list has moved into a premiership window.
Lake demonstrated during the Hawks' Grand Final victory over West Coast that he's lost none of his key attributes – contested marking, reading of the play and closing speed.
While he insisted he was happy to slip into retirement at a press conference on Tuesday, the 33-year-old was singing a different tune after playing in his third premiership in three seasons.
"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."
While Lake doesn't feature in Alastair Clarkson's future plans, Luke Beveridge should strongly consider throwing the 251-game veteran a lifeline.
And Beveridge knows him well, having been his backine coach during the Hawks' 2013 and 2014 premiership campaigns.
Ahead of the trade and free agency periods, the Bulldogs' key defensive stocks look thin, with Michael Talia departing the club and list manager Jason McCartney conceding the Dogs were never in the hunt for wantaway Bomber Jake Carlisle.
The acquisition of Lake would help the Dogs' team balance considerably.
He would allow Jordan Roughead to play in his preferred ruck role and leave Dale Morris to concentrate on smaller types in the twilight of his career.
He'd also provide valuable support and experience to developing key defensive trio Fletcher Roberts (19 games), Joel Hamling (11) and Zaine Cordy (1).
And when asked whether he'd entertain the thought of a returning to the club where he played 197 games and earned All Australian honours, Lake was still talking fairytales.
"To go back to my old club the Western Bulldogs for a year would be a fairytale," Lake told SEN.
"(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."
Lake has ruled out a move interstate for the next chapter of his footballing journey, and conveniently for him and the Dogs, Whitten Oval is only 22 kms down the road from his home in Caroline Springs.
