Mark 'Spud' Carroll

Penrith junior, a member of the club's 1987 reserve grade premiers, found immediate success with Souths in 1990. A surprise choice as a reserve for the one-off Test against France at Parkes (having not played State of Origin) he then won a place on the 1990 Kangaroo Tour. Carroll made only six appearances on tour but was consistently one of Souths' best players in the early 1990s. He moved to Manly in 1994, where his skill as a tough, attacking forward continued to improve, but despite being a shadow player for NSW and the Australian Test team, he failed to make a second Kangaroo Tour at the end of the year. Carroll’s international career gained a boost with the Super League split in 1995 when he won a belated NSW jersey. Despite being suspended for a tackle on David Furner and missing the State of Origin match in Melbourne, he was selected for Australia to play against NZ. A member of Australia’s victorious World Cup team in 1995, his appearances against NZ, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Rest of the World teams over the next two years boosted his Test total to 12 matches. While Carroll obviously enjoyed playing in a stronger pack at Manly, three consecutive grand final appearances (1995-97) garnered just the one premiership success, in 1996. At the end of 1997 he left Manly to play for the London Broncos but the move was not a success and he cited homesickness as the reason for his return. Carroll joined Souths in 1999 and was an important part of the club’s early season resurgence. Recalled to rep football in the Second State of Origin match, he was knocked out in the series decider after a controversial tackle by Jason Smith. Forced to retire at season’s end because of chronic knee injury, Carroll became a committed supporter of Souths’ reinstatement into the NRL. He has since gained some notoriety as the international bodyguard of actor Russell Crowe.