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Hawk’s touching move to allow young star to honour late father
SEN • December 10th, 2025 10:27 am
Hawthorn’s Calsher Dear will honour his late father, Paul, in 2026 as he dons the No. 13 made famous by him.
Paul wore the number throughout his career at the Hawks, where he became a premiership player and Norm Smith Medal winner in 1991.
Sadly, Paul passed away in 2022 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Calsher joined the Hawks in 2023 as a Father-Son selection.
After wearing the No. 35 for the first 26 games of his career, Calsher finally took Dylan Moore up on his offer of taking the No. 13 off him, something the vice-captain had long tabled to the youngster.
Calsher’s mum, and Paul’s wife, Cherie Dear, revealed how her son broke the news to her, which was obviously an emotional moment.
“He hadn't sort of said anything to me at all,” Cherie told SEN Breakfast.
“We were away on the weekend and got back on Sunday night, and he said, ‘I've got some things put aside in the bedroom’. He went there on the way to bed, and I had no idea why he was going in there, but he pulled out a Hawthorn jumper with the No. 13 on it.
“He showed me it and said, ‘What do you think of this?’, and I was completely confused because I had absolutely no inkling.
“Then when he said, ‘I'm going to be wearing this next year’, it made me quite emotional because it came out of nowhere, we hadn’t talked about it really at all. It was a really beautiful moment.”
Cherie also credited Moore, who now moves to No. 8, for effectively convincing Calsher to take the No. 13.
“Then I was like, ‘But what about poor Dylan? What number is he going to wear?’,” Cherie said.
“Then he did say to me, ‘Mum, don't go there, that's already been on my mind’, But it was really lovely, Dylan dropped in yesterday afternoon and it was another emotional moment.
“He's such a great guy and we love Dylan so much. We were very happy to see Dylan wearing the No. 13 and it certainly didn't go in with any expectation that Calsher should get it or would get it.
“It's all credit to Dylan that it was his idea really, and then it took him a little bit to convince Calsher to actually take it.”
Cherie also revealed that Moore originally floated the idea to a young Calsher before he even arrived at Hawthorn, although at that stage the late blooming young forward wasn’t even sure he’d make it onto an AFL list.
“Calsher was only 16 when Paul died and the whole prospect of him playing at Hawthorn wasn't really on our minds that much after everything we've been through, and it was COVID, so there wasn't as much exposure with football for young guys,” Cherie said.
“But in that draft year, Dylan did say after one match, ‘If Calsher comes to Hawthorn, I might have to give him the number 13’.
“It was like, ‘Oh god, he's got to get to Hawthorn first’, we weren't even thinking about it.
“Then it came up again on Friday that Dylan actually suggested it to him, and I think there had to be a few other conversations with other people at the club to try and convince Calsher that he should accept it.
“I think Paul would be so proud of him… he'd be proud of him that he's made it, and I think he'd want him to make it his own.
“Paul was really very much about be your own person, and I think Daniel Harford made a comment on Instagram last night, to take it and make it your own, and I think that's what Paul would want him to do.”
Photo: Hawthorn FC
