Brumbies halfback Joe Powell a bolter in Wallabies squad after strong Super Rugby form

JOE Powell looks like a surfer lost in Canberra but the quiet kid is fast making a big name for himself as a Brumbies halfback on track for a Wallabies call-up.

MEET Joe. He’s the best halfback in Australia, but you won’t catch him saying that.

In fact, you won’t catch Joe Powell saying much unless you happen to be a Brumbies forward in need of a sharp reminder to push.

“I am definitely quiet until I get to know people,” Powell says. ​​”That’s just my personality I guess.”

Powell’s reserved nature is one reason, perhaps, that despite being a key playmaker in Australia’s leading rugby team, the 22-year-old ​can ​still ​walk down most streets and not get second looks. ​

Brumbies halfback Joe Powell at GIO Stadium. Picture: Kym Smith

That and the fact he has still only played​ 15 Super Rugby games.

​But ​​on the strength of his form for the Brumbies this year and ​with fans in high places, ​ ​​Powell’s anonymity could be short lived.

Looking like a surfer lost in Canberra, the skinny No.9 has been Australia’s standout halfback after the opening month of Super Rugby.

Stepping up after a season-ending injury to Tomas Cubelli, he has been influential in back-to-back victories and rocketed up the Wallabies’ pecking order so rapidly he’s ahead of Nick Phipps and Nick Frisby for the job of Will Genia’s deputy.

The fact Phipps and Frisby are playing off the bench this weekend — while Powell tests himself against All Black Aaron Smith in Canberra — points towards the ​Marist College product ​being in line for Test duties in June.

Joe Powell passes during the round three Super Rugby match between the Brumbies and the Force at GIO Stadium.

“I don’t want to think too far ahead,” Powell says.

“If the opportunity came up I would take with both hands obviously, and do the best I can. But right now it’s all about the Brumbies.”

​It’s fair to say a Wallabies call-up wouldn’t rattle Powell. Firstly, he’s already had one after being a genuine bolter in the wider squad for the England series last year.

​And secondly, Powell has been dealing with sharp career leaps since h​e was plucked off a building site to make his Super Rugby debut in 2015.

Then 20, Powell was a Canberra club player ​and carpenter​’s​ apprentice when he covered for an injured Nic White​.

“It was a Tuesday before the game and I had to get a couple of weeks off work​, ​”​ Powell said. ​

Brumbies halfback Joe Powell is rising up the Wallabies’ halfback rankings. Picture: Kym Smith

Powell played three games and was signed by the Brumbies at the end of the year on a rookie contract. With Cubelli and often Michael Dowsett ahead of him in 2016, Powell got limited game time​ and by May, he’d only played seven games for a total of 60 minutes.

Which made an email​ in his inbox​ from Michael Cheika one day all the more unbelievable. Subject: You’ve been picked in a Wallabies squad.

Cheika said of Powell this year “sometimes you have those gut feelings about guys”​ ​but most had barely even heard of him.

Powell had to check with coach Stephen Larkham if the email was real​.

Brumbies halfback Joe Powell works out at training.

“I hadn’t even played against half of them, let alone met them,” he said. “It was a matter of finding my feet there for a few days.​”

​Powell was old-school quiet among the Wallabies big boys but being there wasn’t entirely a slap-me dream-state for the rookie. It was just way ahead of schedule.

“I had a chat with Bernie at the start of 2016 and he said if I improved my pass I would be a chance of Wallabies in the next couple of years,” Powell said.

“That was a really massive motivator for me. It gave me a heap of belief.”

​Few others could see the potential as clearly as Cheika and Larkham​ but they watched as he went back to the NRC, walking a little taller​​, and then smiled as Powell’s pass​es​ came out crisply in the Brumbies’ first game against the Crusaders​ this year​​. With his defence, kicking and direction all sharp, they’d confirmed their theory: this is no average Joe.

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“Spending time with the Wallabies, just getting my head around how the next level work and how the best players handle themselves and prepare, it was very valuable,” Powell said.

“It definitely helped my confidence, too. I backed myself a bit more and I had belief in myself. It proved to me that I am definitely capable of being there.

“Leading into that Crusaders game was probably the most nervous I have ever been for a game, by a massive margin. I did feel a lot of pressure. If I had a bad game I would have been on the back foot and maybe shown I wasn’t ready to lead. But its been so far, so good.”

Originally published as Brumbies halfback Joe Powell a bolter in Wallabies squad after strong Super Rugby form