Dare to Hope: Why Dylan Moore bleeds brown, gold and purple

Dylan Moore has a special connection with the man who wore the number on his back, the late Paul Dear. On Monday, he’s hoping Cats and Hawks fans turn the MCG purple to fight pancreatic cancer.

When Dylan Moore switched to the No. 13 Hawthorn jumper ahead of his AFL fourth season, one name and four words sitting above the locker piqued his interest.

It read: “Paul Dear, premiership player”

Growing up a passionate Hawks supporter, he knew the Dear name but didn’t necessarily know the full backstory until he started doing some research.

He got the chance to meet Paul - who won the 1991 Norm Smith Medal after a stunning grand final performance that helped to sink West Coast - but sadly their connection was far too brief. Paul died of pancreatic cancer in 2022, aged only 55.

But two years on, Moore’s link to the No. 13 and to Dear’s family - particularly his widow Cherie and one of his sons Calsher, who was drafted last year and now plays for the Hawks - is something that he will forever cherish.

“Paul came in about two years ago and spoke to us all,” Moore recalled this week ahead of Hawthorn’s Easter Monday ‘Dare To Hope’ clash with Geelong at the MCG.

“I was (wearing) 13 at that stage, so I was able to get a bit of a connection to him.

“(Since Paul Dear’s passing) I have been able to get to know his family, Cherie and the kids, and it’s great now that I get the chance to play alongside ‘Calsh’.

“The connection to Dare to Hope is pretty cool.”

Moore and Cherie Dear are urging Hawthorn, Geelong and footy fans of any persuasion to turn the MCG into a sea of purple for their traditional Easter Monday game.

“I can’t wait for Monday,” Moore said. “Hopefully the MCG will be full of purple. People say that Freo is the ‘Purple Haze’, but for one game a year, we might just be the purple haze.”

Hawthorn‘s Dylan Moore with Paul Dear’s wife Cherie. Moore wears Paul’s cherished number 13, with Paul dying on pancreatic cancer in 2022. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Cherie and her four sons, as well as the Hawthorn Football Club and the Pancare Foundation, have worked tirelessly in recent years on the Dare to Hope initiative, to raise money and awareness for pancreatic cancer.

More than 3600 Australians die each year from pancreatic cancer. While other cancers rates have had dramatic improvements in their five-year survival rates, through increased investment and research, pancreatic cancer survival rates have barely changed in the past 40 years.

It is on track to being the second deadliest cancer in Australia by the end of the decade.

“We want people to get to the game and help us ‘Purple the ‘G,” Cherie said, pointing out purple is the colour of pancreatic cancer awareness.

“We’ve got 25,000 clap banners to split between Hawks and Geelong (fans). Get to ‘G on game day and get your Purple scarfs.”

The initiative has already seen an initial grant of $360,000 made for research.

“I love the connection with Dylan, he was our initial winner of the Paul Dear Memorial Medal,” Cherie said.

“It means a lot to see him in the No. 13. Sometimes No. 13 can have bad connotations for people, but it’s our favourite number. It keeps cropping up in our lives … we think it is a sign from Paul when we get table 13 or when we got campsite 13 recently.”

Dylan Moore shows off the famous Hawks No. 13, worn by Cherie Dear’s husband Paul. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Dear’s record at Hawthorn, and his characteristics in life, haven’t been lost on 24-year-old Moore who now wears his No. 13 after starting out in No. 36.

“Every day I walk into the No. 13 locker and above it is ‘Paul Dear, premiership player’,” Moore said. “I look up and see the legacy he has left – courageous player, a team player, a player who performed in the big moments. That’s all the stuff I want to be as a player.

“Now I am connected to ‘Calsh’, we spend a bit of time together up forward. It makes me more motivated to one day get my name up there (on the locker) just below Paul’s.”

Moore’s Easter Monday tradition as a kid used to consist of a car ride home with his family from the Stawell Gift, listening intently to the Hawthorn-Geelong clash on the radio.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “I was a Hawks supporter growing up … we went to Stawell Gift (as a family). My sister grew up doing running and I was also involved in running.

“I always remember the Easter Monday game on the radio on the way home from Stawell. It is surreal now to be able to play in front of a big crowd with the addition of Dare To Hope.”

Moore says the Hawks are desperate to hit back after two frustrating games to start the season, a first-round loss to Essendon which could have been different with some greater accuracy, and then a disappointing heavy defeat at the hands of Melbourne.

“There were times against Essendon where we just didn’t finish our work, and then against Melbourne, we didn’t play how we wanted to play,” he said.

Dylan Moore had an uphill battle to be fit for Round 1, battling glandular fever. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

“You can’t play a side like Melbourne and give them a six-goal advantage and expect to run them down.

“We’ve worked hard this week. We know that we are not far away. Internally, we just have to keep up the processes and I think on Monday you will see us with a quicker game style.”

Moore almost missed the start of the season after being diagnosed with glandular fever earlier in the year.

“It was really frustrating, I got through the whole pre-season and the day before our first intra-club, I was feeling a bit sick,” he said.

“Then we did some tests and it was glandular fever. As soon as the juicy stuff (of the matches came), I was out.

“Luckily enough, the medical team got me back for round 1.

“I probably had two main training sessions (before round 1). They (the medical team) were a bit more confident than I was. The medical staff said ‘You’ve had six pre-seasons, just back yourself in’.”

Moore has been one of the Hawks’ great recent success stories in recent seasons.

A pick 67 from the 2017 draft, at one stage, he was put onto the club’s rookie list, but hard work and his talents have seen him become one of the club’s best players.

He is now locked into a deal until the end of 2026, and is a vice-captain of the club.

“One of my big disciplines is working hard and I’m a big believer that you need a bit of luck in this game, and you just need one person to put their hand up for you,” he said.

“I played the last game of 2020, and played well against Gold Coast. I knew I had the ability but I wasn’t sure if one good game could get you a new contract.

“I had (assistant coach) Craig McRae at the time and he was great for me. His positivity and belief instilled in me that I could play good AFL footy.”

Moore hasn’t looked back.

He has barely missed a game across the past three seasons.

He is driven to help Hawthorn to put itself into a similar position that Paul Dear found himself in - playing for a team capable of winning a premiership.

“That’s the final piece in the puzzle,” Moore said of the road ahead.

“I pinch myself that I grew up being a Hawks fan and now I am a vice-captain of the football club.

“I just hope I am one of the boys leading us towards our next premiership success.”

Originally published as Dare to Hope: Why Dylan Moore bleeds brown, gold and purple