Adam Cooney has opened up on the personal struggles his good friend Brian Lake is going through.
Lake was arrested in Japan earlier this week after an altercation while in the country for an AFL tournament.
“He is going through a bit at the moment, no doubt, the big fella,” Cooney told SEN Afternoons.
“It’s been well publicised that he spent a couple of months over in Fiji doing Survivor. He got back, lost nearly 20 kilos, and then he has been in Bali for the last couple weeks with my old manager Ricky O (former Bomber Ricky Olarenshaw).
“I think he got drawn into an AFL Asia tournament over in Japan.
“He is going through a lot in his life at the moment.
“Since he has finished playing footy, I think he has been one of those players who has struggled at times to fill that void because contrary to popular belief, he actually loved the game of football.
“He was a bit of a footy head, he would watch every game every week, knew how every team played.
“He did some stuff with Fox last year, and then was sort of working full time to start this year.
“I think he has sort of struggled in the first half of this year to fill that void of being away from the footy limelight and there’s also been a couple of articles with his personal life, things have strained there and some other stuff happening at home in Adelaide.
“He is probably at his most stressful point in his life then he has ever been Brian, in the last six-to-eight weeks.
“No excuse whatsoever to what has allegedly happened over there but I’m feeling pretty sorry for him.
“Hopefully he can get back home. I think he has met a lawyer over there, set up a meeting with a person over there.
“I think there’s a few demands he needs to meet before he gets out.
“Hopefully it’s this evening, it could be tonight that he gets out and straight back home to try and work on everything happening in his life at the moment.
“Obviously you don’t condone what happened over there but you feel for him because he has been going through a bit at the moment.”
Listen to Adam Cooney discuss Brian Lake on SEN Afternoons in the player below