Bulldogs confident Lake will re-sign

The Western Bulldogs are confident they will retain star fullback Brian Lake,
despite admitting they are unsure why he is yet to agree to a new contract.
The AFL club have offered the 27-year-old All-Australian a four-year deal worth
about $1.8 million.
Dogs football manager James Fantasia said the club believed they had made a worthy
offer and could not explain Lake's reluctance to sign.
"I'm not 100 per cent sure why that's the case," Fantasia told Melbourne radio
station SEN.
"We believe we've put a very sustainable and worthy proposition to Brian."
But, while the trade period is next week and several clubs are on the hunt for a key
defender, Fantasia said there was no suggestion Lake wants to head elsewhere.
"There's never been talk about another club, there's never been talk about Brian
wanting to leave the Western Bulldogs," he said.
"It's been simply us negotiating with his management a deal that he thinks is right
for him.
"You've got to remember this will be Brian's biggest contract, his most important one.
"He's had a lot of things going on in his life, he's had another baby recently and
that comes with enormous pressures.
"I'm very confident though we'll get to the bottom of all of that and hopefully we
can do it sooner rather than later."
The Bulldogs also remain confident they will be able to strike a trade deal with
Sydney to land big forward Barry Hall, despite current differences between the two
clubs' expectations.
Meanwhile, Hawthorn officials have declined to comment on the playing future of
ruckman Robert Campbell, after doubts were raised following recent knee surgery.
An initial diagnosis after a post-season "cleanout" operation was that the
27-year-old could face serious problems with the knee later in life if he continued
to play.
But the advice of a second surgeon was that playing on would not be a major problem.
Campbell is contracted for next season and the Hawks are understood to want him to
play on.
But Hawks list manager Chris Pelchen said the club did not want to comment while
Campbell was considering his situation.
If he is unable to continue next season, it presents a major problem for the Hawks,
who have lost young ruckman Max Bailey for next season with his third serious knee
injury.
Campbell is also a back-up key defensive option, with fullback Trent Croad's future
still uncertain because of a foot injury.
In other news, Fremantle will seek trades for young players Brett Peake and Marcus
Drum, who both want to head to Victorian clubs.
"Peake is maybe heading towards St Kilda and Drum has been mentioned with Hawthorn
and Geelong," Dockers coach Mark Harvey told the AFL website.
But Harvey said negotiations between other clubs on big-name players such as
Carlton's Brendan Fevola and Port Adelaide's Shaun Burgoyne were likely to dominate
the exchange week, possibly holding up smaller scale deals.