Joe McLaren (born 11 December 1977) 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 who played with St Kilda and the Kangaroos 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 ...

(AFL). McLaren, a wingman, was recruited from the Geelong Falcons but came from

Koroit Koroit is a small rural town in western Victoria, Australia a few kilometres north of the Princes Highway, north-west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Moyne local government area located amidst rolling green pastur ...

originally. The 22nd pick of the 1995 AFL draft, he was a member of St Kilda's 1996 Ansett Cup winning side and played 11 games in the 1996 league season. St Kilda went on to make the AFL grand final in 1997 but McLaren only took part in the first two rounds of the season.AFL Tables: Joe McLaren
/ref> He played finals football in 1998 and then had his best season in 1999, when he did not miss a single game. Rewarded with a seventh placing in the

Trevor Barker Medal The Trevor Barker Award is an Australian rules football award for the player voted the St Kilda Football Club best and fairest player during the home and away season in the Australian Football League by a voting panel. The St Kilda Best & Faire ...

count, McLaren had taken 114 marks, kicked 21 goals and had 365 disposals over the course of the year. After a disappointing season in 2000, McLaren was traded to the Kangaroos, in a straight swap with

Matthew Capuano Mathew Capuano (born 2 September 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer who spent his AFL career with the North Melbourne Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. Post playing career Capuano was a development coach at the Carlton ...

. He kicked two goals on debut for his new club 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, ...

, but made only 11 more appearances. In 2003 and 2004, McLaren played for South Fremantle in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

. He returned to Koroit and won the 2005 Maskell Medal, given to the best and fairest player each Hampden Football League season. Having participated in their 2007 premiership team, McLaren was made coach in 2008 and steered Koroit to another premiership the following year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mclaren, Joe 1977 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) St Kilda Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club players South Fremantle Football Club players Geelong Falcons players Koroit Football Club players Living people