The youngest player in the 2008 Essendon squad, Tayte Pears has been a given a 4.74/10 rating by the fans for his first year.

The 190cm West Australian - who turns 19 in March - was taken with pick 23 in the 2007 draft and made his debut early in the season.

He is seen as a possible future replacement for Dustin Fletcher and impressed in his five games.

To see Essendon assistant coach, Scott Camporeale, discuss Pears’ 2008 season click here.

2008
 
Games - 5

Kicks - 25

Handballs - 24

Marks - 15

Goals - 2

Fan’s rating 4.74/10

Here are some of the comments about Pears’ 2008 season:

Trevor Swain - Good start to Pears’ career I thought. Big and strong and will be a powerhouse defender in the future.

Rodney Broadbent - Tayte had a good first year, showed ability and has a bit of dash, a bit of time in the gym pre-season and he could be a regular senior player.

Michael Vassallo - Showed he has a footy brain big part of our future. Hasn’t played enough yet.

Stuart Finlay - Showed promise. Needs to continue to develop and will be the catalyst for further team improvement.

Kim Roberts - Good first year will be better for the run and a good preseason will also help.

George Georgiou - Good Young Kid. Needs time out on the park.

Mark Elze - Should be a regular next year in defence. Started off well and looked like he was going to hold his spot til injury finished his season. Moves well and is a likely type. Needs an injury free pre-season to build on.

Andy McInerney - Good work. Look forward to you taking your game to the next level.

Jan Lovegrove - Obviously didn't see a lot of Tayte this year in AFL, but thought he looked promising, and had a good go.

Don Carter - Very good will be a 200-game plus player

Jan Di Pietro - Seemed very comfortable as a young player. Gonna have a big strong body in a couple of years. Will be extremely important in the next few years patrolling the back half with Paddy Ryder!

Nicholas Morrey - Showed some promise and will be a big part of this clubs future.

Rachael Lee Hawthorn - Tayte Pears played five games this season. Looking forward to seeing Tayte playing more games in 2009. Good luck for next season.

Tony Chen - Needs to improve his skill and awareness but good size.

Stephen Smith - Good first year for Tayte. Showed promise and hopefully he can secure a spot in our back 6 for the next 10 years or so.

Barney Sneddon - Wrapped with what I saw from this young prospect. Forward or back. Will have benefit from Mal Michael's input.

Tina Saccone - Showed great promise until he got injured. Look forward to seeing more of him in 09 - will be a great inclusion to our backline.

Emilio Bernardo - Showed a few glimpses, but still a long way to go....needs to make it, as we need key defenders.

Ben McKinnon - Looked good in the games he played. Needs to develop a bigger body but should be set for more games next year.

Nicholas Loschiavo - Good size for his age, hope to see him as a key back next year, has a great spoil and closing speed.

Nicholas McHattie - Experienced life in the big time this year. Will improve over summer and become a key player in Essendon’s line-up.