Redden's injury and the subsequent surgery would end his season and the club's other ruckman, Brent Renouf, has spent the vast majority of the year finding form in the SANFL after pre-season surgery.
Lobbe's season had come to a fork in the road.
The responsibility and pressure to perform could have proved too great, or he could respond.
And respond he did - since the Power's round 11 bye he has averaged a career-high 35 hit-outs a game.
Against Geelong last weekend, Lobbe amassed 59 hit-outs, 17 possessions and kicked a goal.
But while he's emerged as one of the competition's form ruckmen in the second half of the season, it's been the 24-year-old's leadership that has impressed midfield coach Shaun Rehn the most.
"He's just so conscientious. He probably put three or four hours into Trent West last week, studying his opposition, only for West to get dropped a day later - he's very diligent," Rehn told AFL.com.au.
"It all goes hand-in-hand, the more responsibility put on your back the more opportunity you do have to become a leader.
"Being able to control the little fellas underneath you, being able to get into a stoppage situation and be decisive is probably something he's improved on a lot; he's really starting to run the stoppages."
Lobbe said the range of ruckmen in today's game was constantly helping him improve his own ruckwork.
He said Rehn had played a vital role in offering hints and tips, as you'd expect of a dual premiership and All Australian ruckman.
And although Lobbe predictably rated the combination of West Coast's Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui as the AFL's toughest ruck duo, he said the variety of big men around the League meant a modern ruckman needed a range of tricks up his sleeve.
"The ruck in the AFL is different every week at the moment, there are a lot of great players, a lot of young ruckmen as well," Lobbe said.
"There's a lot of variety there. You've got Todd Goldstein and (Sam) Jacobs and (Matthew) Kreuzer and Zac Clarke at Freo – guys that will probably be around for 10 more years.
"Every time you play each other you learn a little bit more about each other and I think it's going to be really competitive."
Reluctant to talk himself up, Lobbe said his improvement was made far easier by the lift in the Power's midfield.
As well as the usual suspects in Travis Boak, Brad Ebert, Kane Cornes and Hamish Hartlett, significant development in Andrew Moore and Chad Wingard, the return of Robbie Gray and the arrival of Oliver Wines means the engine room bats deep.
"There's a lot of guys there who have added a lot of depth; guys like Moorey and Ollie come in, as well as Chaddy and Robbie Gray have played a lot more in the midfield," he said.
"It means a variety of people can play roles and makes it harder for the opposition.
"It also means that if certain blokes are getting a lot of attention then others can step in and take their role."
Twitter: @AFL_Harry
