Today we swap brown and gold for purple
Why the Easter Monday clash against the Cats is bigger than football
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When the Hawks run out against the Cats today it’ll be in support of Dare to Hope, a foundation that aims to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer.
Dare to Hope is the legacy of Paul Dear, the Hawks champion and 1991 Norm Smith medallist, who lost his battle with this cruel and deadly disease in July 2022.
Back then his son Calsher was just 16, with dreams of following in his father’s legendary footsteps. Now he isn’t just a Hawthorn listed player — he’s a future star who unexpectedly played 17 games in his debut season, kicking 25 goals including four goals in the finals series.
Calsh’s first ever game and goal — against the Western Bulldogs in round 8 — will live long in the memory of every Hawks supporter in attendance. It was a special moment for the Dear family, who has endured so much heartache over the past few years. Here’s our view of it from the stands:
Calsher’s debut, however, was far ahead of schedule. At pick 56, no one really expected to see much of Calsh in 2024, least of all his uncle Greg — a three time Premiership player for the Hawks — who has travelling the world at the time. He watched the game on his phone from, of all places, Morocco.
“I thought I had 10gb of WiFi, but I had 1gb. So I got through the third quarter, I reckon.”
Lightening struck twice when he tried to tune in again for the narrow loss agains Port Adelaide.
“We dropped out with, I think, 10 seconds to go” — although that was probably a blessing in disguise.
Andrew Weiss from HI was lucky enough to grab a few moments with Greg Dear at the club’s Open Day at Bunjil Bagora on the eve of the 2025 season. While a man of few words, Dear’s pride in his nephew’s achievements were clearly obvious.
Despite a bone stress reaction in his back causing a delayed start to the 2025 season, his uncle expects this resilient young man to take it in his stride. Calsher is likely to make his VFL return next week, with a round 8 return on the cards.
“It was just the perfect year for him. But then he starts the year with this s**t that he's dealing with, you know, the crook back. It'll test him, because he's missed pre season, but we’re very happy [with his start to life in the brown and gold].”
In a cruel twist of fate, this is the second year Calsher will miss playing in the Dare to Hope match at the ‘G. But he was still determined to have an impact on his teammates.
In an emotional clip circulated by the club, Calsher spoke about his dad’s brave battle, the pain of losing his grandfather to pancreatic cancer as well, and his mum Cherie Dear’s tireless work in raising awareness for pancreatic cancer.
“I went from never hearing about it to losing Dad and Pa of the same thing,” Calsher says in the clip. “We’re onto the fourth year now and mum is an absolute workhorse. She gets it done.”
The clip ends with Calsher asking his teammates to swap out their laces for purple in support of a cause that means so much to him and his family. While he can’t be out there with them on the field, his family’s impact on this match will be profound.
“It changed my whole perspective on life. I can sometimes be a little bit carefree … I make sure I try and cherish how important the little things are and how much love and affection you show to people because you really don’t know when they’re going to go.”
Click here for more information on the Dare to Hope foundation.
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Such an emotional speech to the team by Calsher. I hope they can get him the win. I was lucky to be at Calsher’s debut game. That first goal was so special, and so good to see his mentor Jack there to celebrate with him.