This season to date The Bulldozer's form has been awesome.

He is the pivotal person in our defence & seeing him continuely go to the best forward & destroy them has been sensational. To see his confidence continue to rise to the extent he not only outmuscles his opponents but also takes risks & runs off his man to set up key plays.

This guy is the hard nosed, confident defender we have been screaming for.

Confidence & belief is a great thing & Carroll is full of both @ present.

Simply believing you belong @ this level can make all the difference.

I hope Col Sylvia does both shortly as I believe he will be our wildcard in the 2nd halve of 2006.

Nathan Carroll you are a star, keep the solid performances rolling. B)

Thoughts?

Couldn't agree more.

Coming into today's game Carroll had conceded only 15 goals in 10 games to his direct opponents (according to the Channel 10 commentators).

Many people though that his form at the end of last year wouldn't last, how wrong they were.

agreed has been absolutely fantastic

Personally i wondered if he would ever make it. Has proven quite a few of us wrong

Would be close to the best full-back in '06.

Getting better each game. Has really established himself as a solid fullback. Love his courage and tenacity. HE played really well today and i hope to see much more of the bulldozer in years to come.

Was on fire today, best game i've seen him play.

Carroll was, like so many today, fantastic and he has cemented himself, saying that the backline is doing super well and the depth in the backline (Wheatley, Brown, Furgey, Whelan - He is more than depth though) is an awesome prospect.

Geniune tough man for Melbourne and come of age brilliantly.

Had similar thoughts. Was gonna start a post asking whether he was a chance at All-Australian?

Heard Tony Shaw say he is a chance for All-Australian. Couldn't agree more. He has been fantastic this year. I am really impressed by his attack on the ball.

I had very little confidence in him coming into this season. He has proved me wrong on so many levels, and I'm thrilled about it!

Even his disposal is getting better.

Deserves to keep that facial hair

Is there something about our in form defenders and facial hear? Remember when Nicho was in AA form he had the big beard? And now Carroll and his mo!

Mayb Ben Holland and Jared Rivers should start working on some beards of their own!

Chopppppppppppppppppppppppppppppper!

Mayb Ben Holland and Jared Rivers should start working on some beards of their own!

Rivers can't get much better, but Dutchy should certainly go the facial hair

If he and the backline keep it up, yes Carroll is a nomination chance and so are we for the rest of the year and the finals.

If Rivers has a few more games where he can kick some goals then can you imagine the confidence soar even further for him!!!!!!!!!! Wow, i love it, i am like a little kid...

I had very little confidence in him coming into this season. He has proved me wrong on so many levels, and I'm thrilled about it!

Even his disposal is getting better.

Deserves to keep that facial hair

Let's hope no-one half shaves him in his sleep

this rivers-carroll-holland/miller combination is working well

carroll has been the key this year. very futile in terms of goals given away.

rivers is unbelievable.

one concern i have is that neither are actually KPP size. rivers too light, carroll too short ...

Nath is one bloke we would have a lot of trouble replacing if he was injured.

On track to be the best fullback since Danny Hughes?

one concern i have is that neither are actually KPP size. rivers too light, carroll too short ...

Carroll is only one centimetre shorter than Scarlett and Rivers is the same build (if not bigger) than Dustin Fletcher / Gaspar.

They are not problems now and I do not see them being problems in the future.

Carroll is only one centimetre shorter than Scarlett and Rivers is the same build (if not bigger) than Dustin Fletcher / Gaspar.

They are not problems now and I do not see them being problems in the future.

According to Pro Stats:

Carroll 191 cm 91kg

Scarlett 194 cm 95kg

Rivers 192cm 92kg

Fletcher 199cm 99kg

Gaspar 192cm 90kg

Nevertheless so long as Rivers and Carroll show the judgement poise and focus they have over the past few months supported by a Holland (198cm 100kgs) and Miller (194cm 96kgs) then I dont think there is a problem at the moment.

Nathan Carroll has always been good. People called him iffy only because he had limited, intermittent game time and made a few memorable clangers.

However he always had the characteristics of a tough backman. I've posted on this way earlier like 2004 but for some cyber reason my posting history has been scratched.

Never mind, my opinion hasn't changed. Stick with him.

According to Pro Stats:

Carroll 191 cm 91kg

Scarlett 194 cm 95kg

Rivers 192cm 92kg

Fletcher 199cm 99kg

Gaspar 192cm 90kg

Nevertheless so long as Rivers and Carroll show the judgement poise and focus they have over the past few months supported by a Holland (198cm 100kgs) and Miller (194cm 96kgs) then I dont think there is a problem at the moment.

According to GFC website:

Scarlett 192cm

According to MFC website:

Carroll 191cm

In terms of Rivers, I was implying that he is tall and wirey, hence a similar "build" to Fletcher / Gaspar.

I remember Carroll up until about round 5 had only conceded one free kick. Any more since then?

Great stuff from Disco a go go!

Well done Chopper, I'm a huge fan.

At this stage he has to be All Australian full back. He actually acts like he belongs at AFL level now. For a long time he seemed to apprehensive and had no idea what was around him now he is a totally different player.

How good was he yesterday to burrow into a pack just outside the goal square, snatch the ball and palm off some dodgy collingwood tackler. So tough, I love it.

I haven't seen much of Adelaide's Rutten this year so can't really comment but I reckon its a toss of the coin between Carroll and Antoni Grover for the All-Australian fullback spot. I'd lean towards Carroll though just due to his story and because he's a Demon