Unless we are bringing someone else in, i'm a bit concerned.
Getting rid of Chapman and Pods showed one thing, that Geelong had nobody ready to stand up and replace them. Unless we bring in someone, we are in the same position, who is going to replace Lake? Spangher is often injured, Schoey is not a defender, and nobody else has played at AFL level. When you look at what Lake has done in the last three finals series, there is nobody on our list who even comes close to replacing him. Unless we're planning on playing Gibson on a KPF, which robs us of what he brings in his current role, and deprives us of using him as the third option if he or Frawley get injured or are struggling.
The thing with replacing older players, is that the younger players need to step up and push them out of the side. Look at what Langford did with Sewell. You don't just get rid of the tried and true in the hope that someone who has never stepped up at AFL level will be able to replace them.
As i said, i would have liked to see Brian go around for another year, and at least give us a safety net if nobody steps up. Having said all this though, i trust completely in the Hawthorn brains trust, so i guess we'll just have to see what they do.