Woodend were expecting him to play for them this year but hasn’t turned up to training yet so now they’re unsure…
Oh what could have been. I remember watching him destroy Brad Johnson as a 17yr old in a pre season game, thinking oh ■■■■ yeah we got one here boys!
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CFA these days?
He should be still playing, with 2-3 AA’s under his belt.
Best of the bunch imo, and it was a damn good bunch.
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Absolutely mate, the Hooker/Pears combo was brilliant to watch. So many highlights/glimpses of what might have been from such a short career.
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Too busy hanging out with old mate Trout?
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how many players, that play end up with multiple all Australians? he showed a few signs but that’s perhaps a little far 
I think pears was to you what Langford is to KM, I do remember you loving him
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Pears was AA in his U18 year and finished 3rd behind Rich and Andy Otten in the Rising Star as a 19 yo lining up on players like Fev, Pavlich, Cam Mooney and Koschitzke.
He was a third tall that could rebound while playing on the best forwards in the game which is one of the most important roles in the backline.
Injuries robbed him of being a very good player.
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was thinking the same re he showed a few good signs, but that was only really 09, then he busted his arm in 2010 wasn’t it and was never the same player.
even then in 09 alot of his good qualities were he was attacking for his size and position ( hadn’t seen too many running kpd’s streaming out of the backline taking bounces).
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It was his pancreas injury in 2010 that really set him back. Was never the same after that. By the time the saga engulfed the club he was a only a shadow of what he could have been.
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My memories of 2008-2010 Pears were he provided a few highlights running out of the backline but was given a bath a few times.
Kinda similar to Hooker over that period tbh so barring injury could see them having had a similar career trajectory.
Also, granted this was peak Fev and forwards actually kicked goals back then, but he had 8 scoring shots over the 2 games Pears played on him in 2009.
edit watching YT highlights Darcy Daniher played on Fev the first time in ‘09 when he kicked 4
double edit Fev actually kicked 4.7 that game. Yikes!
He played out a game with a broken arm, and literally nearly died for the club from the pancreas injury. Extraordinary. We’ll never know how good he may have been, but he had good footy IQ.
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Nah. Before the hand injury in 2010, he never had more than 4 kicked on him.
Hurley has 2 AA’s, and he was better than Hurley. Hooker has one too, and he was a fair level above Hooker.
Hardly a stretch, but it’s all hypothetical anyway. We’ll never know 
I bumped into Tayte, Courtney Johns and their respective girlfriends at last years Aus Open. Got chatting and they were so drunk they invited me to hang out with them 
Unfortunately I was on my way to a work function so I had to decline.
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One of the biggest unfulfilled talents I have ever seen play for Essendon. Through no fault of his own either
No doubt in my mind he would of been the best defender in the comp if he hadn’t of copped so many injuries.
Unfortunately Tayte’s game did not suffer as much from the injuries themselves as it did for the loss of confidence and in-game nous that comes from extended periods of time out of the game due to those injuries.
Physically speaking they were terrible injuries, but he recovered well in the end only to be struck down by the saga. As a third string tall he needed to be able to read the play, attack/take it on and dispose well but with time out of the game his decision making within his few games became slower, disposal questionable and too safe. Too often he would be caught flat-footed like a deer in headlights and handball backwards. In the end he was pushed into a key post outside of his strength where his game and love of the game further declined.
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Disagree with this. Pears way way more physically developed than Hooker and Hurley when he came to the club. I think both Hurley and Hooker would’ve been better players had Pears not copped the injuries. Let’s not forget both Hurley and Hooker both had their setbacks too.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Pears was a fine player who was cut down before he reached his prime, but he had his shortcomings too. He was undersized as a defender, not a great at intercepting, could barely kick 50 and didn’t get involved in general play that much. What he could do is keep a leading forward quiet, make good decisions with ball in hand and give an honest effort every time. But I don’t think he had the scope that Hooker and Hurley had.
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Yeah, Pears’ was more than a ‘setback.’ The closest thing Hooker or Hurley had to that, is what’s happening to Hurley right now.
And Pears was ‘way way’ more physically advanced than Hurley when he arrived? Not sure about that, Hurley was a physical beast day 1.
Pears hit season 2009 as a 19 year old in his second season, with 5 games under his belt. He also had virtually no preseason. He then averaged 15 touches a game from fullback, and came 4th in our B&F.
The future was darn bright.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, old buddy.
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