Best 22 in 21

[Thryleon]

Lake did win the Norm Smith Medal and he did have a few spuds like Hodge, Gibson, Birchall, Stratton, Mitchell and Burgoyne helping out.  Don't forget that Gibson had a great record against Buddy Franklin.  Frawley was a bit player in their 2015 premiership.

yes but how many of them are key position players?
Gibson 189cm
Stratton 189cm
Birchall 193cm

The rest are a similar sized bunch of midgets.  We don't need to find the next big thing to help out our defense.  We wouldn't want to go in without Liam and Jacob very frequently but hawthorn managed to win 3 flags in a row because they had consistency in their lineup, consistency in how players played roles, and a bit of luck (which all successful teams need) that breakdowns were few and far between.  There were quite a few unsung heros in their teams.  We have a few players that fit that bill if they could stop breaking down.

The point in making is that without Brian Lake hawthorn were a team of short defenders and we are not.