Jamie Maclaren ready to let loose against former club Perth Glory

ITS taken almost half the season but Brisbane striker Jamie Maclaren finally has the chance to prove a point to Perth Glory.

IT has taken almost half the A-League season for Brisbane striker Jamie Maclaren to finally get the chance to prove a point to Perth Glory coach Kenny Lowe at Suncorp Stadium.

Maclaren has been a revelation since Roar coach John Aloisi enticed him to Brisbane from the Glory, where he felt he was not supported by Lowe.

“The big reason I came here was because I knew John rated me as a player,” Maclaren told The Courier-Mail after scoring twice in Brisbane’s season-opening 3-1 win over Western Sydney Wanderers in October.

“As a striker you want a coach that backs you and I wasn’t backed at Perth (by Lowe), for whatever reason.’’

Maclaren was stuck on the bench for most of last season with the Glory, but still managed nine goals despite starting in only seven matches.

For Brisbane this season, the 22-year-old attacker has already scored six times and started in 11 of the Roar’s 12 games.

The only game he missed was the Roar’s 1-0 home win over the Glory on November 15 when he was away with the Olyroos.

This time Maclaren is available, with his latest Olyroos commitments, the AFC under-23 championships in Qatar, not taking him away until next week.

Aloisi said his key marksman was excited about the match, but felt Maclaren would not go overboard in trying to prove something to Lowe.

“I’m not worried that Jamie will get too pumped up for it,” the Roar coach said.

“Of course he wants to do well because it’s his old club but he hasn’t got a bad bone in him.

“It’s different when you’ve got someone that can lose their cool a little bit, but Jamie will be controlled.

“He’ll just make sure that he’s ready for the game and I’m sure he will be.’’

Another former Glory player in Brisbane’s team is ex-Socceroos defender Jade North, who was part of the Perth side that won the 2003-04 NSL title.

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Maclaren left the Glory at the end of last season.

Since then it has been lean times for the Glory, who have not won anything since the start of the A-League in 2005.

However, despite Perth being 12 points behind second-placed Brisbane, North is expecting a tough afternoon.

“They’re pretty solid, they’ve got a great defence (and) they’re going to be hard to break down,” North said.

Despite Brisbane being a chance to move into first place tonight following Western Sydney Wanderers’ draw last night, North felt the Roar were not still widely regarded as genuine championship contenders.

“Everyone’s been talking about how good other teams are and we’ve just been going under the radar,’’ North said.

“We’re happy with that and I hope they keep pumping other teams up.

“The bigger teams, the Sydneys and the Melbournes, they’ve got the money, but we’ve got the heart, we’ve got the pride. We can really build some positive things here.’’

Originally published as Jamie Maclaren ready to let loose against former club Perth Glory