AFL Finals The Moment: Calsher Dear, Nick Watson arrive in front of full house at MCG

Hawthorn fans could be forgiven for partying like it’s 2007 — the year Lance Franklin arrived in an elimination final. Only this time, it was the son of a late club legend and the man better known as ‘The Wizard’.

Hawthorn doesn’t just smell like ‘teen spirit’ right now’, Sam Mitchell’s youth-charged side smells like it is capable of a deep run into September.

And it was the Hawks’ two teenage whiz-kids – the son of a club finals hero who was an emotional father-son selection last November and a brash, energetic jack in the box with a quirky nickname taken at pick five – who helped transform this tough elimination final grind into a second half procession over the Western Bulldogs.

Nineteen-year-olds Calsher Dear and Nick ‘The Wizard’ Watson owned the big moments in their first final – indeed, in their first AFL seasons – with moments of class, dare, precision and a sense of occasion.

The pair kicked seven goals between them – three to Dear, and four to Watson, including the last of the game for the ‘Wiz’ that put the final toll on the Bulldogs’ season.

Let’s start with Dear’s two magic moments, both of them bringing the roaring crowd of 97,828 — the biggest elimination final crowd in history — to their feet in a mix of wonder and awe.

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Calsher Dear roars after booting his third goal. Picture: Michael Klein

Lance Franklin announced himself as a star in the 2007 elimination final.

His late father Paul, who died of pancreatic cancer two years ago, famously won a Norm Smith Medal in 1991.

He would have been looking down proudly on his son’s achievement in only his 16th AFL match.

It wasn’t quite Buddy Franklin’s elimination final emergence in 2007; but it was a bloody good indication of what this young man can achieve in the future.

His first goal came precisely when his team needed it. It came almost seven minutes into the second term when the Hawks had run 28 minutes without adding a second major as the Dogs looked to be wresting control.

A missed kick in the middle of the ground from Ed Richards resulted in a turnover with Harry Morrison and James Worpel combining to deliver the ball deep into Hawks’ attack.

Dear wrestled with his opponent between the boundary and goal lines, then threw out his foot with a dribbling goal that the hapless Socceroos could have used against Bahrain.

It was a classic team lifter and he followed it up with a critical second goal just before half-time to give the Hawks an 11-point lead.

Nick Watson feels the love from his ‘Wizard’ army post-match. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

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But what came next was even better.

Midway through the third term, he juggled a big grab right on the boundary line about 50m out. For a brief moment he considered passing off to a teammate. He looked inboard then outside.

Then he seized the moment, went back and nailed the goal of his career so far with gun-barrel accuracy that brought a swarm of teammates in to celebrate with him.

Two minutes and 53 seconds later, it was the diminutive Watson who nailed his second goal for the game, which came from what some might have thought was an unlikely source.

Jack Ginnivan had been criticised at times when he wore the black and white jumper for being a little selfish in front of goal.

But not this time.

He had the ball in his hands and the goals in his radar at the 18-minute-mark of the third term when he stopped almost in tracks and passed the ball into his small forward partner Watson. He didn’t let his mate down.

Watson ended up kicking the last goal of the third and fourth quarters, too, as this incredible Hawks’ run – after starting the season 0-5 – has now set up a semi-final clash with Port Adelaide.

We should have known that Ginnivan, 21, wasn’t going to leave empty handed though.

He loves the limelight too much and in front of a monster crowd that was almost as loud as it was when he played in Collingwood’s premiership last year, he gave us one final party trick.

When he kicked a magical last term goal, he turned to the crowd and motioned as if he was opening a can of beer in a mock gesture to his much-talked about alcohol free elimination final eve dinner at the London Tavern in Richmond.

That’s the thing about these young Hawks, who had eight players aged 23 or under in this match … they not only love the big moments, they are absolutely owning them

Originally published as AFL Finals The Moment: Calsher Dear, Nick Watson arrive in front of full house at MCG