Albury signs Fletcher Carroll after season stint in the SANFL

It's a stunning coup for the grand finalists after the classy midfielder joined SANFL outfit Central District around 12 months ago.

"Albury is my junior club and has done a lot for me, the two years I spent here before Adelaide, the club's always looked after me and I always wanted to get back," the 25-year-old explained.

"I'm now back in Melbourne, so it's a little different with the travel factor, I just had to weigh up whether that was going to work for me, but I was stoked once I made the decision and can't wait to be back."

Carroll had spent three years away from Albury previously, playing 13 VFL games at Williamstown and Coburg, along with a stint at Heidelberg.

On his return to Albury in 2021, he finished third in the Morris Medal and was having another outstanding season last year until cut down by a hamstring injury in July, returning in the final round.

"You know what you're getting with Fletch, he's a real leader for our group and there's a lot of guys here who look up to him," Tigers' co-coach Anthony Miles confirmed.

"He loves the Albury club, his whole family is invested and to have him back is a massive boost."

The pacy Carroll played five senior games at Central District.

"It probably didn't pan out as well as I would have liked," he admitted.

"I had my challenges cracking into the team, there were some good players ahead of me and I didn't adapt to the roles I was given as a half-forward-wing role.

"It was definitely the right call (to tackle the SANFL), I'm happy I made the call to go over there and have a crack, if I didn't, I would have been wondering what could have been."

Although the off-season is just over five weeks old, it's already been a successful time for the Tigers after former Hawthorn draftee and Albury 2018 premiership forward Mat Walker agreed to a three-year deal.

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