Taylor Garner (born 8 January 1994) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos a ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted to North Melbourne with pick 15 in the 2012 AFL national draft after playing for the

Dandenong Stingrays The Dandenong Southern Stingrays are an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. 1992 saw the birth of the Southern Stingrays, developed under the leadership of Steve Kennedy (Regional ...

in the

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Vic ...

and representing Victoria Country at the

2011 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2011 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships were the 16th edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships. Eight teams competed in the championships: Vic Metro, Vic Country, South Australia and Western Australia in Division 1, and New South Wales/Austral ...

. He made his debut in Round 20, 2013, against the Adelaide Crows.

AFL career

Garner debuted as a sub against Adelaide in round 20 of 2013. He made his first start in North's final game of that season against Collingwood at the MCG. In a 2014 Nab Challenge fixture against Geelong at

Kardinia Park Kardinia Park is a major public park located in South Geelong, Victoria. A number of public and sporting facilities are located in the park: a major AFL stadium, a secondary football oval, a cricket field, an open air swimming pool, a number ...

, Garner suffered a debilitating hamstring injury. He would miss the entire 2014 season after suffering setbacks in addition to unrelated hip injuries. Garner's injury troubles continued into the start of the 2015 season. Once he was eventually cleared of his hamstring and hip concerns, Garner subsequently sustained a broken finger injury, further delaying his return. After a short stint in the VFL, Garner was a shock inclusion in North Melbourne's round 15 game against

Geelong Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon ...

. Garner was selected as sub and came on to score two goals. Garner kept his place in the senior side for the rest of the season including during North's finals series. In the first elimination final against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

, in front of 90,168 people, Garner kicked an important goal. Late in the match he was subbed out for Lindsay Thomas, and North won the match. Garner also played in the subsequent semi-final win against Sydney, and preliminary final loss against West Coast at Subiaco. In 2017 Garner was also nominated for mark of the year in a game against Fremantle. After eight years at North Melbourne, Garner was delisted at the conclusion of the

2021 AFL season The 2021 AFL season was the 125th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featu ...

References

External links

* 1994 births Living people North Melbourne Football Club players North Ballarat Football Club players Dandenong Stingrays players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Werribee Football Club players {{AFL-bio-1990s-stub