Where to start with Charlie Cale? Maybe the car whipping through the KFC drive-thru for a snack after an average round of golf, the time he had a Slim Shady hairstyle, or the freakish try which saw his Instagram follower count rise by hundreds.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Let's wind back to the beginning, long before Cale was an ACT Brumbies No. 8 turning heads across Super Rugby and filling the void left by an idol. He's a Dubbo boy - but just don't say he's a country kid.
"I was born there but I left there pretty early. When people say I'm from the country, I don't cringe but ... yeah. I'm not really from the country, but my family is," Cale said.
It's no knock on the country, but this 23-year-old rose through the ranks in Sydney before catching the eye of Brumbies power brokers while playing for Eastwood in the Shute Shield.
Now everyone else is taking notice after Cale scored two tries in the Brumbies' season opener - one of which he had no right to score from his own kick.
Seeing Cale dip into his bag of tricks is nothing new for Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham, who has watched it all before during Uni-Norths games in the John I Dent Cup.
![Charlie Cale exploded out of the blocks to start the Super Rugby season. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Charlie Cale exploded out of the blocks to start the Super Rugby season. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36vwtM5n3dmMVgNPycRBEHz/7eeb914d-1a61-41c6-9ef1-d30662e9d60c.jpg/r0_416_5504_3523_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"When it's on, it's on," Cale said, "but if it doesn't come off, I'm sure I'll get a rocket from him."
Larkham will be desperate for Cale to fire again when the Brumbies head back to Melbourne to face the Waikato Chiefs during Super Round on Sunday.
Cale has forced his way into the Brumbies' No.8 jersey, stepping into Pete Samu's shoes and pushing Rob Valetini - one of the game's most destructive players - to flanker.
"Pete was like my idol and I took a lot out of his game," Cale said.
"I was just trying to go in and play my own type of game. Obviously I learnt a lot off him but I was just happy to be there.
"I think the back row can probably change every week. It depends on who we [play], if we [play] a bigger team they might want a bigger back row and less skinny back-rowers hanging on the edge. It could change every week. Wherever it is, I'd like to play every week."
As long as he's not playing second row. He's happy to leave that to guys like Cadeyrn Neville and Nick Frost.
"How much did he talk himself up? Honestly, he scores a couple of tries and he's on media straight away," Frost grinned.
"He played well. Not really a long time coming, it's just good that he got his chance. Obviously when Pete Samu vacated a role, Charlie took his opportunity and played pretty bloody well. He's come through the John I Dent, he's shown it out on the training park, you've got to do it in a game.
"He's a pretty elusive back-rower, he's pretty speedy. He doesn't hit too many breakdowns, but we'll do the tight work for him if he scores us those tries."
A date with the Chiefs - who enter round two after a win over the Canterbury Crusaders - pits the Brumbies against the same team that broke their hearts during last year's semi-final.
Frost is revelling in the chance to make a statement against a Super Rugby powerhouse widely tipped to contend for the title once more.
"Chiefs are one of the top teams in the comp year in, year out. They don't have a whole lot of weaknesses so it's always a good challenge," Frost said. "We always have good battles. Like with a lot of the Kiwi teams, it's a bit of a benchmark."