JOEL GARNER flies under the radar somewhat despite being a young leader amongst the playing group.

But after building a consistent season playing in the backline, some in the SANFL competition are starting to take notice.

The talented half-back has taken on some of the competition’s best forwards and excelled this season, and Saturday was no exception despite Port Adelaide’s loss to Norwood.

Speaking post-game, coach Matthew Lokan commended Garner for his consistency.

“He's been really consistent for us," Lokan said. “I think it's one area of the AFL side where we're pretty strong and we've got a number of backs - that's probably why he hasn't got his opportunity at the next level. But he's been super consistent for us.

“He's really competitive and he's a fantastic young leader for our young group.”

The 21-year-old has rallied in recent weeks, with a 22-disposal and one-goal game in the victory over Central District before performing an admirable shut down job on dangerous Redlegs forward Cameron Shenton, keeping him goalless and restricting him to just seven touches.

“Shenton's been scoring for Norwood the last few weeks so we knew that we needed to shut him out and Joel generally gets those roles,” Lokan said.

“We thought it was good match up and we thought Joel did really well.”

Garner has averaged 13 touches and five marks per game this year, while sneaking up forward for four goals as well.