HE IS already looking like the steal of last year's draft. So how did Calsher Dear get through to pick 56?

As Dear tore apart last week's elimination final for Hawthorn in just his 16th AFL game in his first season, booting three goals and flying high against the Western Bulldogs, it was easy to look at his draft position with wonder.

But there were many factors in the Sandringham Dragons tall forward getting through to the fourth round.

"He got through because he was probably a bit inconsistent. He had some really good games and then he had some games where he was just doing the things he needed to and his body let him down a couple of times with soreness and niggles," Sandringham Dragons talent manager Mark Wheeler said this week.

"As a 16-year-old, he didn't want to commit because of his basketball. As a 17-year-old, he had his dad's illness going on so he had time away from the program. It was an open-door policy on when he wanted to come back, he could."

Dear came into the Dragons program ahead of the 2023 season and put in a promising performance in a practice game that had scouts excited.

"He might have been in the top-10 at that point. Everyone was saying how well he played," Wheeler said.

But it didn't translate automatically to big Sandringham performances. He trialled to make Vic Metro's under-18 championships squad, but didn't make the cut.

As a developing tall forward he took his talents around the ground when playing for his school side, St Bede's College. "He dominated there and played in the ruck, roaming around and having some big games," Wheeler said.

It was a shot of confidence Dear needed and his form began to turn when he returned to the Dragons' line-up. While he was playing with the Dragons and kicking goals in the middle of the year, clubs were focused on the under-18 national championships that was happening around the country. 

Hawthorn, too, took convincing, with the club not committing to selecting him until very close to draft night in November. His back-end of the season with the Dragons, when he kicked nine goals in their final five games of the year, stood out and he booted two in their Grand Final win over the Eastern Ranges. 

"Way back then, I said he was a big-time player and he was proving things along the way. He had an opportunity to prove in the Grand Final what he could do and the bigger the pressure, the better he became. That was the bit that I loved. It didn't seem to faze him and it hasn't really all the way through," Wheeler said.

"When I saw the Hawks after the Grand Final I said, 'If you don't take him, someone else (will)' and that's where it sat."

As is often the case with father-son or Academy prospects who sit outside the very top echelons, stretched recruiting teams often focus on players who are considered in the 'open' pool, rather than those with ties to clubs.

Dear didn't win a nomination to the draft Combine, which generally needs about four clubs to nominate their interest, after kicking 21 goals from 15 games for the Dragons. 

Dear's Hawthorn ties were strong. His father Paul had won the 1991 Norm Smith Medal for the Hawks in their premiership win. His brother Harry was drafted by Adelaide in 2014 but did not feature at AFL level, having not been nominated as a father-son by the Hawks.

In July 2023, on the one-year anniversary of Paul's death to pancreatic cancer, Calsher kicked the opening goal for the Dragons.

Ultimately, it was a lack of exposure that saw the raw tall slide so low on draft night. 

"You're judged against every young man in Australia and he's a key-position player. So it's even harder for him to be judged because he didn't have a bank of going through the 16s and 17s, he didn't have that Metro opportunity all the way through all like the others. Some players have three years of history to go through and he just didn't have that," Wheeler said.

Dear's impact at the Hawks has already been strong. The Telstra AFL Rising Star nominee kicked 21 goals from 35 shots during the home and away season, working at a 60 per cent shot at goal accuracy. Champion Data shows the AFL average is 49.5 per cent. There were 112 players with at least 30 shots this year, with Dear's accuracy ranking him 13th in the AFL.

He is now up to 24 majors, with his 11 goals in the past four weeks also putting him behind only Coleman Medal pair Jeremy Cameron (17) and Jesse Hogan (14) for goals in the same period, and equal to Western Bulldogs young gun Sam Darcy.

A fair start for a pick 56.