Winding back to the middle of July, Nathan Carroll thought his AFL days were numbered. The Melbourne defender had just 11 AFL matches to his name, was set to turn 25 in October and had not played for the Demons since round 14…in 2004.Knee, shoulder and achilles injuries were taking their toll, while an untimely suspension in the VFL did not help his cause either. A recall seemed unlikely, until he was somewhat of a surprise selection for Melbourne's round 16 clash against Sydney.A solid effort against the Swans led to Carroll being retained for Melbourne's trip west against Fremantle the following week. History now shows he played six of Melbourne's final eight matches for the season - he missed one due to concussion before playing the following week in the VFL - yet in those senior matches he claimed several key scalps.A fine performance on eventual 2005 All-Australian Matthew Pavlich in round 17, combined with curbing three-time Coleman Medallist Matthew Lloyd to just one goal in round 22 was topped off with his best effort yet in Melbourne's sole finals appearance.Carroll was clearly Melbourne's best player in a disappointing day for the club against Geelong in the second elimination final. Despite Melbourne being pumped by 55 points, Carroll restricted Kent Kingsley to just one goal, after he had previously jagged 26 goals in six matches against the Demons.Now with 17 AFL matches to his name, Carroll can lay claim to some major scalps - which also includes Barry Hall in the final round of the 2003 home-and-away season. His performance at the end of 2005 now offers hope to a Melbourne defence, which has struggled in recent years. It has also given him the belief to mix it with the best."It gave me a lot of confidence, because I finally got my body fit enough to be able to play, because that's been the main concern since I've been here," Carroll told afl.com.au."Before that (round 16) I got suspended in the VFL for three weeks, so when that happened I was probably thinking about going back to Perth."My head was all over the shop (before round 16). But it's footy and it can turn so quickly, so it doesn't matter how bad things are going or good things are going, you've got to keep going towards your goal and I did."I think the main thing I can say is that once your body is fit, the rest falls into place and that's what happened in the last month (of the 2005 season)."That's what is going to help me this year, knowing that I played on the main forwards in the last five games of the year and they were pretty big games too - it wasn't just cruisey games - so through the pre-season, once again, I've just got to get fit and if I'm fit, I'll be as confident as anyone to play out there."Carroll said an achilles injury had plagued him throughout 2005 and it got to the point where he was unlikely to play in the second week of the finals, had Melbourne not lost in the first round of September."I was only training once a week or maybe twice a week. Once it warmed up, it was alright, but because training is stop-start, I was in a lot of pain there. It was pretty stressful and annoying, but once I got out to play your mind is elsewhere and I was warmed up and I got through, but I couldn't walk for two days," Carroll said.But after joining his teammates at Phi Phi Island - as part of the club's work with the Reach Troy Broadbridge Fund at the end of the season - and holidaying in Vietnam, Carroll said his achilles problem had settled down to the point where he was able to undertake pre-season training with the rest of the squad."That was good for my achilles, just doing nothing on it. There was no stress and I was just relaxing and the physio, when I came back, couldn't believe how good it was," Carroll said."I had eight weeks off and I didn't do a thing, so I went down to the beach and relaxed and I've come back and eased into the running in the first week, but you just play it by ear."The first two years (at Melbourne) I had patella tendonitis in my knee and at full-back, you need your leg strength and then I had my achilles towards the end (of the 2005 season), so I've got rid of both of them now, so I'm pretty excited."Having also undergone a shoulder reconstruction at the end of the 2004 season, Carroll is now able to complete leg and upper body weights and is on target to complete his first full pre-season since joining the club as a rookie in December 2002."I'm probably lifting three times heavier leg weights already than I have been during the season, so that's a big advantage already, because that's what you need at full-back - power and strength," Carroll said."I'm doing upper body weights, because this time last year, I had a shoulder op and I couldn't move my arm until after Christmas and I'm just able to do full training sessions, with running and footy, so all of that together is going to make me a better player."