A defender, he was selected by Melbourne in the 2003 Rookie Draft and he made his AFL debut that season.

After playing only eleven games in his first two seasons, 2005 loomed as an important year for Carroll.

He made his way into the team late in the season, before an injury in the Round 18 loss to St Kilda sidelined him for two weeks.

In 2006, Carroll was a much improved player and played all 24 games in easily his best season to date.

[2] His older brother, Trent Carroll, was on the senior lists at Fremantle and West Coast for several seasons.