ON GRAND FINAL day last year, Brian Lake was in the car park at the MCG soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying a barbecue with his mates.

This year, his experience of that one day in September will be vastly different.

While supporters of Hawthorn and Fremantle fight nerves and expectation and football lovers enjoy a hamburger and sausage in the car park, Lake will be preparing to run out in his first AFL Grand Final.

It is a dream come true for the 31 year old veteran full back, who made the tough decision at the end of last season to leave the Bulldogs with a dream in his back pocket.

That dream was to finally, if he could, play in a Grand Final and not only that, a premiership.

He has been chasing it since he was drafted as a lanky key position prospect from South Australia. He has been to every Grand Final since he arrived at the Bulldogs at the end of 2001.

Lake arrived at Hawthorn in October last year full of hope and determination to get him body right and to attack pre-season head on and make an impression at his new club.

Lake’s professionalism and attitude towards his training impressed the coaches and fitness staff almost immediately, and when the players returned for their break, they too knew he meant business.

Aside from a calf injury that forced him out of the pre-season competition and the opening rounds of the home-and-away season, Lake’s 2013 has gone to plan.

He has played 20 of a possible 24 matches and shown why he is still one of the premier defenders in the competition with his intercept marking and ability in one-on-one contests.

But the conclusion of the blueprint he laid out for himself when he arrived at Hawthorn is yet to be complete.

The final chapter will be written in Saturday’s Grand Final against Fremantle.

“It’s surreal still,” Lake said of making the Grand Final on Monday.

“The plan has gone to script so far but there is still one week to go.

“It’s why we play football. It was hard to make that decision (to leave the Bulldogs) but coming into this week, a Grand Final week, it’s a pretty good decision.”

Hawthorn qualified for the Grand Final in sensational fashion, defeating Geelong by five points last Friday night.

The game wasn’t without its challenges and nervous moments though, with the Hawks trailing the Cats by 20 points at the final change.

It took almost a herculean effort from the Hawthorn players to overcome a side it hadn’t beaten in 11 attempts and a team that is difficult to overcome when a Grand Final is at stake.

The Hawks still trailed by 19 points at the eight-minute mark of the final term, with the Grand Final slipping away by the second.

Lake admits he was nervous as the Cats appeared capable of holding off a fast-finishing Hawthorn.

“It’s fair to say I was a little bit nervous,” Lake said.

“Half-way through the quarter there were just little things – Franklin kicked it out on the full accidentally and Isaac (Smith) kicked it out on the full on his right foot. You just think there were just those little things that were not going your way.,

“To the guys’ credit we were able to dig deep and get over the line.”