Emotions high as son of late Hawthorn champion Paul Dear has name called in AFL draft

There has been a magical moment on the second night of the AFL draft when Hawthorn called out the name of Calsher Dear.

Calsher is the 18-year-old son of Paul Dear, a former Hawthorn star who played 123 games with the club from 1987 to 1996 and won the Norm Smith Medal for his performance in the Hawks’ 1991 AFL grand final triumph.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Famous footy family in for emotional night at AFL draft.

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Paul was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in September 2020 and was told his condition was incurable and terminal, but dared to hope he could be the exception.

After a 21-month battle, Dear passed away in July 2022.

Calsher now has the opportunity to follow in his footsteps after he impressed in the second half of the year and was selected by Hawthorn as a father-son prospect with Pick 56.

And ahead of the draft, he spoke to 7NEWS about his father’s legacy and influence.

“Very excited, a little bit nervous but very excited, can’t wait,” Calsher said about the draft night.

And the nerves would have built, too, with Hawthorn doing some live pick trading before they selected him.

The club sent Pick 53 to Sydney for Pick 59 and a future fourth-round selection, after they had shipped off Pick 52 to Port Adelaide, also for a future fourth.

Finally, when they did call out his name, social media lit up.

“This one is special, with pick 56 in the AFL Draft, we’ve selected Calsher Dear,” the club wrote with love hearts in the club colours of brown and gold.

And fans loved it.

“Couldn’t love this any more,” one fan wrote.

“Love this so much, I’m sure Paul is looking proud of you tonight, Calsher,” another said.

Respected journalist Ash Browne (a noted Hawthorn fan) wrote: “Been on record saying that Hawthorn should park the ‘Family Club’ moniker, but they’ve made some some great moves in that space of late. Calsher Dear a wonderful story.”

Before the event in their Beaumaris home, the Dears were having a gathering with friends and family.

And Calsher’s mother, Cherie Dear, said it was a night of “mixed emotions”.

“Very mixed emotions, but if we’ve learned anything from what happened to Paul, it’s that you’ve really got to make the best of the good times,” she told 7NEWS.

“And tonight is such a special night, we have got our friends and family here who have been with us the whole way, so we’re going to celebrate because we have the luxury of knowing he is going somewhere.”

Asked what the one life lesson that he learned from his champion father, Calsher’s response was full of emotion.

“Just to never give up,” he told 7NEWS.

“Through his actions that we saw, through his diagnosis, he never gave up trying,” Calsher said.

“He never gave up trying to beat it.”

Calsher comes from a sporting family and his oldest brother, Harry, was drafted by Adelaide in 2014.

The Dear family now does work for the Dare to Hope foundation in memory of Paul, that attempts to educate and create awareness about pancreatic cancer.

In a documentary about Paul, he said he didn’t fear death and hoped the Dare To Hope initiative could turn into a positive.

“Just trying to make something good out of a shitty situation and if I can lead the way and get the word out there. Even if it’s a day longer that’s a day you get that you didn’t have. It’s really how you should live your life,” he said.

“I don’t want to die, I want to be here for everything, be here for all my kids, be part of that absolutely.

“What is there to fear? I’ve always lived my life by focusing on the things you can control. There’s a hell of a lot of people have left this earth without the warnings.

“Ultimately, fear of death is FOMO (fear of missing out).”

Head here to watch the Dare to Hope documentary on 7plus