Carroll, who has only played Australian Rules Football for a year and a half, has been sent to Essendon on a USAFL scholarship to experience three weeks of pre-season training with an AFL club. It is the fourth year of the exchange program.
""I was only meant to be here until last Saturday, it was supposed to be my last day, but Sheeds kind of came up to me and asked me why I was leaving, we had a practice match so I guess I did kind of well,"" Carroll said.
""Sheedy is great, the guys do impressions of him, they love him, its crazy. It’s like no one really knows where he is coming from but they know he is right.""
""So now I am just going to continue training, I don’t really know what will happen, there has been some mention possibly of playing at Bendigo (Bombers), but I really don’t know. I had originally planned on coming for the 3 weeks and then going to play for a club, but now its up in the air."" Carroll said.
Having spent time training with the Bombers, Carroll already has a great appreciation of the player’s abilities. ""Its great to take a lead and be hit at the end of it, the deliveries are amazing, these guys are incredibly fit, their fitness is amazing and their skills are fantastic.""
In his home competition Carroll plays centre-half forward and would like to play more on the ball when he returns home. ""But here I play forward pocket or flank which is good because you get to watch people like Scott Lucas and learn a lot, like how they move.""
