He played his first game for the club against his old team the Atherton Roosters, in a pre-season trial in Atherton. After playing all of his football at Canberra in the position, he was shifted to by Roosters' coach, Brian Smith. After his début against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a 36-10 victory, Carney was kept at , only shifting back into the position to cover injuries or representative absentees until round 14 against the Melbourne Storm when he was permanently switched to , displacing captain Braith Anasta to .