Though giving away inches to taller opponents, Paul would occasionally be the secondary ruckman for the team.
Unable to break into the side during back-to-back premiership years of 1988 and 1989, Dear was consistently named as an emergency.
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.
[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.