Brian Lake has played in three Preliminary Finals, but he’s never made it past the final hurdle.

His record in the second last week of September is 0-3, having played in losing Preliminary Finals in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

He has come agonisingly close to reaching the Grand Final twice – in 2009 when the Bulldogs were beaten by St Kilda by seven points and in 2010 when they were again beaten by the Saints by four goals.

Now he enters Preliminary Final week hoping to finally break his duck.

In each of his three Preliminary Final appearances his team has been forced to play in a Semi Final after being defeated in the first week.

This time, it’s different.

For the first time in his illustrious career, Lake will play in a team vying for a berth in the Grand Final in a team that has enjoyed the week off after winning the Qualifying Final.

It is an unfamiliar position for the 31 year old veteran defender who crossed to Hawthorn from the Bulldogs at the end of last season in the hope of achieving the ultimate success.

He is now one step away from the chance to feature finally on the last Saturday in September after sitting in the stands at the MCG watching what would soon be his new club play off in the decider last year.

He can’t hide his excitement but knows there’s still work to be done.

“I haven’t had a good record in prelims, I think I’m 0 and 3 so touch wood, hopefully I’ll get my first win in a prelim this week,” he told hawthornfc.com.au

“I don’t try and think about it too much, I don’t want to get over excited and play the game before it’s happened.”

There was no rest though for the Hawks while their Preliminary Final opponents, Geelong prepared for and went into battle against Port Adelaide in the Semi Final last Friday night.

A regular week on and off the field, the Hawks kept their break as normal as possible so not to disturb the routine it has perfected over the course of the season.

But now, just three days out from the biggest game of the season to date, Lake says he and his teammates can’t wait.

“We’ve had a good week off, we tried to treat it like a normal week – we had a hard session late, sort of like it was a game,” Lake said.

“We’ve tried to change not too much, but the guys are very eager to get out there finally.

While the Hawks haven’t beaten the Cats in 11 attempts, only one of those has been in a final in a year the Cats went on to win the premiership.

The streak means nothing to Hawthorn, but winning a place in the Grand Final does.

“They’ve had the wood over us, but finals are a different story,” Lake said.

“We’ve had a rest, the guys are pretty primed and we want that Grand Final spot.”