Brisbane yesterday named the 216-game, 33-year-old international on a five-man bench for Friday night's clash with the Warriors after it was thought he needed more time to work on his fitness.

Carroll retired last September after Brisbane's painful last-minute finals exit at the hands of Melbourne.

''It's certainly not panic stations,'' chief executive Bruno Cullen said, keen to upend talk Brisbane had turned to Carroll as a saviour after it fell out of the top eight with Sunday's 21-14 loss to Parramatta.

A feared defender and minder of Darren Lockyer, Carroll's comeback coincides with Brisbane having leaked 138 points in losing three straight games by more than 40points for the first time in its proud history, before a vastly improved effort against the Eels.

''There's a few stories flying around but we didn't approach Tunza [Carroll] at all and he's certainly not answering an SOS from the club. I want to make that very clear,'' Cullen said after Carroll was confirmed in coach Ivan Henjak's 18-man squad.

''Tunza and Justin Hodges had a coffee quite a few weeks ago and during their discussions Hodgo said to Tunza if he felt that way, he should put the boots on again and have a go. As a result of that meeting, Ivan and Tunza got together and Ivan told him if he was fair dinkum about wanting to make a comeback to go away and get into a shape where he could seriously consider it.'' AAP