He's done it the hard way, but this is no Dear headlights

Charting Calsher Dear's unlikely path to an AFL debut

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The journey to an AFL debut is always unique, but it can look similar for a lot of junior footballers. It’s fair to say that few have travelled the road Hawks young gun Calsher Dear has to get to Marvel Stadium on Sunday evening.

Standing at 196cm, strong aerially and equipped with the ability to pinch hit in the ruck, Dear has the makings of a quality key position player for Hawthorn for the long term.

The outlook didn’t always look so clear. Calsher — the son of the late Hawthorn Premiership ruckman Paul Dear — spent most of his junior days rotating through various sports with a split focus on football and basketball. Because of this, Dear wasn’t on the radar of any ‘elite development' clubs or pathways.

This lead to Dear playing most of his junior football at local club Beaumaris, which is incidentally the local club of Hawthorn champion and Dear’s mentor, Jack Gunston. It wasn’t until his draft year that Dear was invited to train and play with Coates Talent League side Sandringham Dragons.

Dear with his mentor Jack Gunston.

The step up to the Coates League

The season started fairly slowly, as Dear adjusted from the step up that came with going from local footy to an elite program, but like he has adapted since joining Hawthorn, Dear quickly caught up with the pace and requirements expected at the Dragons and his season exploded.

A Coates League campaign which included 21 goals from 11 games, in a stacked tall forward line where Dear wasn’t the primary option, spoke volumes about the youngsters ability to make an impact wherever he can. Dear was hitting peak form at just the right time and it was the Dragons (and Dear’s draft chances) that would benefit.

Dear in action in the Coates League.

Dear’s strong finals series was topped off with a fantastic Coates League Grand Final where the forward finished with 13 disposals, 14 hitouts and 2 goals, but his impact on the game as a contest went far beyond what his stats suggested.

That strong finish to the 2023 season put him squarely in the frame to be considered by clubs late in the draft, or as a rookie. As it turned out it was the club that his father represented so admirably that took the opportunity to select him with pick No. 56 in the National Draft.

Calsher with his mum Cherie on draft night.

Start to life in the VFL

The aim of all draftees is to impress in pre-season, and work towards playing AFL football as soon as possible, this is the great equaliser. It doesn’t matter where you’re drafted when you’re on an AFL list. The only thing that matters is how you work and how you play.

On this note, Dear’s start to the VFL season with Box Hill was impressive, gathering six disposals, four marks and kicking a behind against Casey Demons in Round 1, but it didn’t take long for Dear to make an impact at that level either. Round 2 against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium. The Hawks start slowly but come back hard with an eight goal final quarter sealing a 34 point win. Spearhead Dear kicking 3.2 from 13 disposals, with 5 tackles to round off his performance.

Unfortunately the next week was a reality check with Box Hill being overpowered by Gold Coast and Dear having little impact. The less we talk about that weekend on the Goldy the better.

Dear kicking one of his four goals against North.

The bounce back happened straight away when Dear kicked 4.2 from 15 disposals including five marks, three tackles and five hitouts against North Melbourne in a 60 point win. The jungle drums were beating.

Dear couldn’t get near it in the first half against Sydney last weekend, but when the team needed a target, Box Hill coach Zane Littlejohn turned to Dear who delivered, kicking 2.4 from 15 disposals, with six marks and four tackles complimenting a game that was only let down by inaccuracy in front of goal.

There’s a consistent theme across all these games. While Dear — like most young players finding their way — might go missing for periods in games, he has the ability to impact moments and, in turn, impact games.

So what can we look forward to on Sunday?

Dear’s strengths are his marking and general aerial ability, his competitiveness in the air and when the ball hits the ground, his desire to exert himself on a contest, his versatility and his ability to impact the scoreboard.

He’s going to need to bring all of these and more this Sunday when he faces Liam Jones and the rest of the Western Bulldogs defence.

Dear won’t be worried though, because the path he has taken to get to this point has been rocky, but his journey is just getting started.

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Learn more about Paul Dear’s Dare To Hope foundation here.

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