Essendon defender Tayte Pears has received the Round 13 nomination for the AFL Rising Star award following his performance on Carlton spearhead Brendan Fevola on Friday night.
The 19-year-old held Fevola to just 11 possessions and two goals while gathering 21 touches himself, including nine kicks and 12 handballs.
Pears has played all 13 matches this season, standing the likes of Daniel Bradshaw, Jarryd Roughead, Justin Koschitzke and Matthew Pavlich.
Recruited from East Perth, Pears made his AFL debut as a late inclusion into the Essendon line-up against the Western Bulldogs in Round 4 last year.
Pears was a standout player with Western Australia's title-winning team at the 2007 Under-18 Championships and received All-Australian honours that year.
He was taken at pick 23 overall in the 2007 AFL Draft.
Pears is Essendon's second AFL Rising Star nominee for 2009 following David Zaharakis in Round 2.
