Twenty two-year-old Brent Stanton was tagged heavily in 2008 but was the club’s highest possesion winner.
 
Essendon fans conitnue to rate him highly giving him a 6.58/10 in 2008 down slightly from his 6.95/10 in 2007.
 
He received a 7.79/10 in his breakout season (2006).
 
Essendon fans believe Stanton still has to learn to deal with a heavy tag better but were impressed with his running power.
 
 
2008

Games - 22

Kicks - 321

Handballs - 164

Marks - 122

Goals - 18

Fans’ rating: 6.58/10

2007

Games - 20

Kicks - 322

Handballs - 147

Marks - 139

Goals - 11

Fans’ rating: 6.95/10

2006

Games - 22

Kicks - 332

Handballs - 153

Marks - 135

Goals - 12

Fans rating: 7.79/10

What some of the fans had to say about Brent:

Caleb Slade - A breakthrough year for our young midfielder. I think Brent took a huge leap from young midfielder to key player for years to come. Brent played every game this season and averaged 22.05 disposals per game. I really think that Brent could be a future captain.

Brian Campbell - Very disappointing early got better, but not much.

Rod Ansell - Brent was tagged a lot this season and was forced to work hard for possessions. His ability to ""gut run"" is excellent and he has become a damaging player in front of goals. Brent is continuing to develop and will benefit from learning this year to deal with tags.

Alan Betts - Struggled with heavy taggers at times and still needs to improve his disposal skills. However his gut running was outstanding and is a key to the re-building of the midfield.

Graham Flynn - Another pretty good year. Gradually learned to deal with tags.

Jeff Harringtonw – Stanton is one of my many favourite players. Make him captain after Lloyd and only trade him for Gary Ablett and Jimmy Bartel together.

Peter Bonfa - Brent Stanton is still my favourite player and I think he had a reasonable year. At times especially at the start of the year he struggled with being tagged as the number one midfielder. He is still young and he will get used to the tags and I still think he can improve a lot as he is still only 22 years old.

Eddie Bostjancic - be more HUNGRY... inspire your team mates, you could be anything champ, go for it whilst you can

David Street - Brent needs to find a yard in pace. However he hasn't learnt to play according to his pace. He can't break lines because he's not fast enough. Hid disposal has improved, but still needs further improvement.

Jan Di Pietro - Needs to lead the team more. Be in the game from start to finish 100%

Emily Paton - Taken a backwards step this season, is it the heavy burden of the no. 5? Has looked uninterested too often and has failed to chase down the opposition too many times.

Luke Jones - He didn’t seem to play too good this season. He had a few good games, he thinks he needs to play like Hird but and that’s where he goes wrong. He could win a Brownlow if he puts his head down and play the game