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.
[1] Rewarded with a seventh placing in the Trevor Barker Medal count, McLaren had taken 114 marks, kicked 21 goals and had 365 disposals over the course of the year.
[1][2] After a disappointing season in 2000, McLaren was traded to the Kangaroos, in a straight swap with Matthew Capuano.
[3] He returned to Koroit and won the 2005 Maskell Medal, given to the best and fairest player each Hampden Football League season.