Hawthorn young gun Calsher Dear has revealed he never thought he was going to get drafted, let alone make his AFL debut in his first season.

Dear was selected by Hawthorn with pick No.56 in the 2023 AFL draft as a father-son selection, following in the footsteps of Paul Dear, who played 123 games for the club, including winning the Norm Smith Medal in the 1991 grand final.

Paul tragically died in 2022 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

Calsher played his junior football for the Sandringham Dragons, but wasn’t expected to be drafted until he blitzed the finals series.

“My best three games were in finals and I have a lot of people tell me that’s what got me drafted,” he told Hamish McLachlan on Unfiltered.

Despite impressing in those three games, the 195cm prospect received little interest.

Only one other club besides Hawthorn spoke to him and the Hawks were also non-committal on nominating him as a father-son selection until late in the piece.

“Spoke to GWS a little bit and that was really the only other club that was interested in me and for a little bit, I thought I was going to end up there and then Hawks nominate me as father-son,” he said.

Calsher also says he was “nowhere near AFL standard” in his first year at the club, but still managed to make his debut in Round 8 and play 17 games, including both of the Hawks’ finals.

He finished the season with 25 goals, highlighted by a three-goal haul in the win over the Western Bulldogs in the elimination final.

“I find it easy to not put a lot of pressure or expectations on myself and especially going into that level because I thought I was so far of it,” he said.

In the full episode, Calsher discusses the details and impact of his father’s death and the resilience of his family, especially his mother.

Unfiltered with Hamish McLachlan featuring Hawthorn young gun Calsher Dear, 9.30pm straight after The Front Bar on Seven and 7plus Sport.