HAWTHORN recruit Brian Lake has a point to prove as he embarks on his first season with Hawthorn.

Lake battled a number of injuries throughout his time at the Bulldogs, however, still managed to earn the respect and admiration of his peers across the league. 

In particular, the 30 year old battled with injury in 2011, and was sidelined for the majority of the season as speculation began to swirl about his future.

The backman decided to commit to the Bulldogs for 2012, his final year at the club.

Now entrenched in his new club, Lake revealed his motivation for departing the Bulldogs in an exclusive one-on-one interview with hawthornfc.com.au to be released on Friday.

“For me, it’s to prove a lot of people wrong, they had written me off saying my body was shot and my knee was horrendous,” he told hawthornfc.com.au

“Personal motivation, to prove people wrong but also to get back to the football I played previous to the injury was a major factor.

“There were a lot of issues that went through that year as well with Rocket (Rodney Eade) leaving and staff changing over as well – new coaches and assistant coaches came in.

“Macca (Bulldogs Coach Brendon McCartney) and I had a discussion, he was keen for me to stay and he saw a future for me at the club.

“Things have changed now with the way that club is heading, with the youth and the restructure of the backline. For me, it was planned to play a bit more forward in 2013 for the Bulldogs.

“I saw it 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.”

Check back to hawthornfc.com.au on Friday to read the full interview with Brian Lake.