WHEN he was seven, Taylor Garner tagged along with his two older brothers, who were trying out for the local Dandenong Rangers representative basketball team.  

While Mitchell, then nine, and Damian, 11, were put through drills, Taylor wandered to the back court and decided for himself to have a go at being selected in the under-11s side.

"And then all of a sudden he was picked in the team," recalls Taylor's mother, Lynne. 

"I said to him afterwards 'We didn't even come down here for you, I thought you were too young' and he said 'But they said I could play', so he did.  It just came so naturally to him that it wasn't a big deal."

Garner has always had a knack for surprising people with his sporting talent, and not being overawed by what comes next.

When he was growing up, and the Garners went water skiing on the Murray River, Taylor managed to 'barefoot' (water skiing behind the boat without skis) on the training bar in one try. 

The family was so impressed they urged him to do it again and again, but he would shrug his shoulders, keener to move onto the next thing.

He started playing footy when he was six, when his dad used to sneak him into the Rowville Football Club's under-9s side. And when he was 11, Garner won the under-12s best and fairest by 51 votes.

This year, having only made his TAC Cup debut with the Dandenong Stingrays in March, Garner has fast established himself as one of the most exciting players available at the NAB AFL Draft, and a likely first-round pick. "We just can't believe how quickly it's all happened," Lynne says.

Recruiters are also coming to terms with Garner's rise. That's what happens after relatively little exposed form, but a NAB AFL Under-18s Championship campaign with Vic Country that saw him finish with All Australian honours. So, where has he been?

In 2010, Mark Wheeler, the Stingrays' development manager at the time, noticed Garner playing in Rowville's under-18 side (as a 16-year-old). He saw him fight for the ball when it was on the ground, leap above opponents when it was in the air, and compete like crazy.

After running a 13-minute three-kilometre time trial in his first Stingrays pre-season, he was told to sharpen up by coach Graeme Yeats.

Instead of jogging around the streets of Endeavour Hills in Melbourne's outer east, each night after school Garner would run laps of his backyard, over and over again, to get fitter.  

Joining a local gym for the first time this pre-season helped again, and he set his mind to train extra hard. But injuries throughout last season, and a three-week holiday to Thailand, cost him a chance to play last year for the Stingrays.

"The trip was planned way before I even knew about the Stingrays," Garner told AFL.com.au. "I missed my chance there, but I don't think Graeme thought that much of me then anyway."

Garner might not have thought much about himself then, either. He always knew he could play, but wasn't convinced he belonged at the Stingrays. With every game at the start of this year he grew more confident, arriving for training earlier, and becoming more involved.

Then he was picked for Vic Country's side, another step in his path he didn't see coming.

"I think he second-guessed himself a bit when he got picked there," says Wheeler, now the Stingrays regional manager.

"But our midfield coach Craig Black was an assistant coach with Country, and having him there was pretty comforting for Taylor. Once Taylor got in there he excelled. I think he was looking for that next level and he proved he's definitely up to it."

Garner showed at the championships that he can do things most players can't. As a medium forward (listed at 186cm and 76kg), Garner is a clean mark above his head and on the lead, and twists, turns and makes good things happen. Yeats says he has "unique qualities". Wheeler thinks he's "a bit freakish." His mum knows of a few other traits, too.

"He's definitely determined. I can see it," Lynne says. "If he makes a mistake, if he messes up a kick or doesn't get a mark, I can see his mind ticking over thinking 'That shouldn't have happened'. And then he'll get it back."

Garner is keen to get a bit taller and build up his light body - whatever Lynne makes for dinner Taylor has two serves - but he's already creative, mobile and brave.

In Country's first game of the championships, the 18-year-old dislocated his left shoulder. He woke up the day after in agony, and missed the next game, but returned for the round three clash with Western Australia.

It was his best game, collecting 20 disposals and kicking three goals. His shoulder again popped out, but Country's physios were able to strap it up tightly and he played the game out, and kept flying for marks however much it hurt.

The next game, against Vic Metro, he felt a whack over his shoulder in the second quarter, and knew it had subluxed again, when the shoulder slips out of its pocket. This time he didn't tell anyone and played on.

He knew if the coaches found out they probably wouldn't let him play the final game of the championships five days later against South Australia at Etihad Stadium, and he really wanted to play that game. So he hid the injury, and the pain.

He ended up playing against South Australia, and dislocated the shoulder for the fourth time in four games.

"I told them it was sore, but I didn't say it had been dislocated. I don't think it was as bad as it was made out to be anyway," Garner says, his relaxed smile belying a serious injury.

"I just had to take my mind off it as much as I could and push through it. It's that next contest that's the one you're most fearful of."

Four weeks ago Garner underwent a shoulder reconstruction, and he's in a sling for another two weeks, ruling him out of the TAC Cup finals and from testing at the NAB AFL Draft Combine. Apart from being a little frustrated his season is over, the injury has had other impacts.

Garner left school half way through year 12 last year, and started a plumber's apprenticeship. He had been working five days a week, getting up at 5.30am, before his Country commitments started to increase and he cut it to three days. His boss gave him a few weeks off during the championships to make sure he was fresh and could impress. 

Garner's apprenticeship has been suspended for three months until he gets through the shoulder rehab, but even after that he's not sure if it will be able to handle the daily strain of installing air-conditioners right away.

That's fine. Since the carnival finished, Lynne has noticed her son's focus change. And Taylor, while sitting on the couch, nursing his injury, and watching old DVDs, has found himself with more time to think about not only what happens next, but what's happening now. 

"It's still too hard to get a grasp on, really. Like, I sometimes think 'Is it actually happening?'" Garner says.?

"I play how I want to play and did it my way, I guess. It's a good feeling coming through a bit later and surprising a few people and showing what you've got."

Callum Twomey is a reporter for the AFL website. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.