Dylan McLaren (born 8 May 1982) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

. He was recruited as the number 9 draft pick in the 2001 Preseason draft from Sale. He made his AFL debut for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

in Round 20, 2001 against

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

. Dylan struggled to have any major impact on his games until 2004, when he was a consistent player in the Lions' final 22. Dylan was delisted, and picked up by the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

with the first pick in the pre-season draft, at the end of the 2005 season, with the intention that he would fill the back-up ruck position behind

Barnaby French Barnaby French (born 25 November 1975) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. French attended Pembroke School in Adelaide. A champion junior rower, French was a member of the Australian under 23s rowing team. He gave up rowin ...

. He made his debut for Carlton in the first round, and played thirteen of the fourteen rounds before being dropped in favour of

Adrian Deluca Adrian Deluca (born 15 May 1982) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Deluca played TAC Cup football for the Oakleigh Chargers, and also played ...

and Chris Bryan. He played for Carlton's , the

Northern Bullants The Preston Football Club, which trades and plays as the Northern Bullants, is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston, Victoria, Preston that plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It plays its home games at t ...

, for the remainder of the season, rotating through the ruck and forward line to kick fifteen goals. He was expected to take the top ruck position at Carlton in 2007 but failed to play a senior game. McLaren was delisted from the Carlton playing list on Thursday, 6 September 2007. Dylan McLaren signed with

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Port Melbourne recorded a populatio ...

in the VFL in 2008, and played there for three years, retiring from the VFL at the end of 2010. He finished his playing career with his junior club, Sale, in the

Gippsland Football League The Gippsland League (formerly known as the West Gippsland Latrobe Football League) is an Australian rules football and netball league in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is considered the only AFL Victoria major league in Gippsla ...

, also continuing on there in a coaching capacity following his retirement.

References

External links

Dylan McLaren at the Carlton Football Club website
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Dylan McLaren profile in Blueseum
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaren, Dylan 1982 births Carlton Football Club players Living people Brisbane Lions players Preston Football Club (VFA) players Port Melbourne Football Club players Gippsland Power players Sale Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)