An Australian and New Zealand international and Queensland State of Origin representative, he played for the Brisbane Broncos of the NRL and Leeds Rhinos in the Super League.

He made his State of Origin début for the Maroons from the interchange bench in the 1998 series, scoring a crucial match-winning try on debut in a game Queensland would win by 1 point with a Darren Lockyer conversion after the siren.

Carroll became best known for his devastating defensive hits and scored a try in Brisbane's 1998 NRL Grand Final victory to claim his second premiership ring.

When selected for the Kangaroos in 2004s Tri-Nations competition, Carroll became the first player in 90 years (since Bill Kelly in 1914) to play for both New Zealand and Australia.

During the 2007 NRL season at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Carroll.

[8] In 2007, Broncos coach Wayne Bennett pulled a surprise selection by naming Carroll at five-eighth left vacant due to the season ending knee injury to captain Darren Lockyer, a position he had only played for 50 minutes in his entire career, opting for Carroll ahead of other options such as, Joel Moon, Karmichael Hunt, Shane Perry and Greg Eastwood.