Younger brother of fellow Hawk ruckman Greg Dear, Paul was the smaller of the two; Greg stood at 199 cm to Paul's 188cm. Though giving away inches to taller opponents, Paul would occasionally be the secondary ruckman for the team. The Dear brothers were recruited when the Latrobe Valley was in the Hawthorn zone. A half-forward, Dear made his debut in 1987 and played in that year's Grand Final. He filled in for the unavailable Jason Dunstall at full-forward but ended up on the losing side.
Unable to break into the side during back-to-back premiership years of 1988 and 1989, Dear was consistently named as an emergency.
In 1990, he got regular games, playing 23 games for the year, and his form continued into 1991. He helped Hawthorn defeat West Coast in the 1991 Grand Final with two goals and won the Norm Smith Medal. Dear almost single-handedly turned a nine-point deficit into a ten-point half-time lead by dominating across the Hawthorn half-forward line and setting up several goals.
Later life
In 2020, Dear was diagnosed with untreatable pancreatic cancer. In 2021, Dear appeared on the AFL-centred TV show The Front Bar to promote the charity.[1] He died in July 2022, just one week before Hawthorn was to play in the "Dare to Hope" match to raise money for Pancare, a charity that Dear supported until his death.[2] A documentary, entitled Dare to Hope, was set for release in late 2022.[3]
Family
Paul's son Calsher Dear plays for Hawthorn in the AFL. His elder son Harry was also drafted by Adelaide in the 2014 AFL Draft, but ultimately did not play any senior matches.
