“Hasn’t been at his best”: Sam Mitchell addresses young gun’s shock omission

Hawthorn senior coach Sam Mitchell has explained Calsher Dear's surprise omission from the Hawks' squad for their Community Series clash against the Bulldogs on Friday night.

The 21-year-old's potential has been widely lauded since debuting in 2024, but injuries limited the young forward to just nine senior games last year.

Mitchell stated on SEN that Dear's limited pre-season, which stemmed from a hamstring injury suffered during the Hawks' elimination final win over GWS, played a role in his decision.

"[Dear] hasn't been quite at his best," Mitchell said.

"We've got a few talls in the front half and we're looking at trying to get the mix right.

"He's down a little bit of confidence currently. He's been a little bit limited this pre-season but I expect to see him in the side fairly soon. He's up against it for Opening Round at this stage, but nothing's too late."

Mitchell has named Aidan Schubert in his place, a big-bodied forward who the Hawks drafted in the late first round of the 2025 National Draft. Schubert has been considered as the best pure forward in the draft crop, given his body of work and potential upside once his frame fills out.

Mitchell highlighted Schubert's "unlikely" success as the 18-year-old pushes for an early season debut.

"Schubert is unlikely looking at times, but when we get his GPS unit at the end and his impact on the game, he's been really signficiant for us early," Mitchell said.

"We're looking forward to seeing what he can do against strong AFL defenders tonight.

"We need to start to introduce some youth into the side. We didn't name a debutant last year so we're looking to get some youth in.

"[Noah Mraz] has also had a fantastic pre-season and that's why with Tom Barrass, we wouldn't have wanted to take any risks with him. We know giving Noah an opportunity, he'll star and play a fair bit of footy tonight."

Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs gets underway at 7:10pm (AEDT) at Mission Whitten Oval.