Sparks will fly: Toole keen to back up spectacular debut season at Brumbies

He's too small. He will never make it in Super Rugby. Stick to sevens.

It's been the story of the speedster's life. Even his parents thought he was too small for contact sport growing up.

Toole has taken joy in proving all of the doubters wrong, first as a star on the world rugby sevens circuit and now as an ACT Brumbies cult hero.

The 23-year-old quickly became a fan-favourite during a breakout rookie year in 2023 and a Wallabies debut beckons.

One of the fastest players in Super Rugby, Toole produced a host of electrifying plays as he crossed for nine tries that left both spectators and rivals awe-struck.

As a child, however, such a trajectory would have been unthinkable.

Rather than playing rugby, Toole played tennis and soccer and his formative memories of football were spent watching other diminutive athletes dominate their fields.

Benji Marshall's famous 2005 NRL grand final flick pass remains etched into Toole's mind, the youngster a starry-eyed five-year-old when he watched his idol produce one of the biggest moments in league history.

"It was really cool seeing the things he could do on a footy field," Toole said. "Watching him win a premiership, it motivates me to do the same thing."

Toole's parents eventually allowed him to take up rugby as he entered high school, but they still had reservations.

It's not hard to see why. Standing just 178 centimetres tall and weighing 85 kilograms, the winger is one of the smallest players in Super Rugby.

Toole hit the ground running as a teenager, quickly entering the ACT Brumbies pathway system and utilising his tennis background to burn opposition defences at a young age.

"There were a lot of skills from tennis that translated to rugby," he said. "Coordination, foot work, endurance, speed.

"The main thing was trying everything and enjoying it. The more you enjoy something, the more you want to do it."

Fast forward to today and Toole is one of the hottest young players in world rugby.

The 23-year-old dominated the global sevens circuit in 2022, scoring 43 tries to lead Australia to a historic world title.

The performances set the stage for a return to Canberra and a crack at the XV-man game. As has happened all through Toole's life, people doubted whether he was big enough for Super Rugby.

It took less than 80 minutes for the winger to put those fears to bed, the rookie scoring a try and producing multiple flashes of brilliance in the Brumbies' season-opening win over the NSW Waratahs in Sydney.

Toole was not surprised people doubted him ahead of that match, people have doubted him his whole life, but knows it was an effective way to silence them.

"I don't really listen to them," he said. "I don't care what other people say, I just do my own thing and show it on the field."

Given everything Toole went through growing up, it shouldn't surprise little fazes the youngster.

It's why he's willing to stand his ground as 120kg behemoths charge straight at him and why he stands calmly as sparks fly above his head for a fiery photo shoot with The Canberra Times.

If there were doubts about Toole's toughness, you only have to look at last year's semi-final loss to the Waikato Chiefs, where he played through both a syndesmosis injury and a broken hand.

Toole is composed as he prepares for his second season of Super Rugby, but recognises this year will present a different challenge.

No longer the unknown rookie, suddenly there is additional pressure to perform and build on a stunning debut year.

It's a level of expectation Toole is prepared for and those around him at Brumbies HQ have noticed a steely focus to ensure there is no second-year syndrome.

"His application to the program has been impressive," ACT coach Stephen Larkham said. "The key is making sure he prepares as well as he can for each game, which he's done so far. He was a standout in the trials and is a pure athlete.

"We saw last year he was unlucky not to be selected for higher honours and this year he's gone about his business as usual and has been diligent with his preparation."

Larkham has said repeatedly it's a matter of when, not if, Toole plays for the Wallabies. Many consider him unlucky to miss out on a Test debut last year.

Based on how the World Cup played out, he's probably lucky he wasn't involved.

He may not have played for the Wallabies, but Toole did receive a taste of international action in 2023. The winger played for Australia A against Tonga and the experience has made him hungry for more.

The looming defection of Waratahs winger Mark Nawaqanitawase to rugby league is set to open up a place in the Australian team over the coming seasons, with Toole likely to be one of the primary beneficiaries.

"Most of the players in the Australia A team had already played for the Wallabies," he said. "It excites me and makes me want to represent the Wallabies.

"I'm not looking too far ahead at the moment, just focused on round one."

Should he fall short of a Test debut in 2024, Toole has a secondary target in the back of his mind.

Australian sevens coach John Manenti has made no secret of his desire for the fleet-footed winger to feature at the Paris Olympics. Toole is open to the idea, but the priority remains to play for the Wallabies.

That, however is six months down the track. For now, he's focused on backing up a stunning rookie season for the Brumbies.

"I was just learning on the fly last year and was a bit unsure of what to expect," he said. "Now I know what to expect and hopefully we can put some good performances together.

"If we can play some consistent footy hopefully we can go one step further than we did last year."