Richmond Rovers juniors Roy Powell grey up in the
Grey Lynn area and began playing for
Richmond Rovers as a junior around
1924 aged 16 in the 6th grade. He was most likely playing in the midfield based on where he was being listed in the team line ups.{{cite news Roy continued to play for Richmond juniors right through the remainder of the 1920s. In
1925 and
1926 he was still in the 6th grade A side before progressing to the 5th grade later in the season.{{cite news
Richmond seniors At the start of the
1932 season Powell would have been 26 years old and he still began the season most likely in the reserve grade side. But on 11 June he was mentioned in a match report for the senior side against
Marist Old Boys. It was said that "Powell put Richmond on the offensive with a well judged line kick…" though Richmond went down 21–13 in the match played at
Carlaw Park. It was likely that he was debuting at full-back in place of Valentine who had been there in previous weeks as the rest of the backline was Reece Marshall (wing), Harry Johns (centre), Drew (wing), John Angelo (inside centre), Stehr (standoff), and C Reynolds (halfback).{{cite news The
1933 season saw Powell become fully established in the senior Richmond side. He played 19 matches and scored 5 tries. He spent the first half of the season playing in the loose forwards at lock as a 'rover'. His first try was in a round 5 match against
Marist when he "dashed over for a good try" from a scrum.{{cite news
Auckland and North Island selection The
1934 season began on an interesting note for Powell. Shortly before the season he lost the "joint of a finger" in a "motor accident".{{cite news On 20 June he was selected as part of the
Auckland training squad to practice towards the match with
Taranaki.{{cite news The match was played on 30 June at
Carlaw Park with Auckland winning 35–8.{{cite news On 9 September Richmond defeated
Marist 20–13 to win the Roope Rooster for the fourth time with Powell playing well. He was then named in the
Auckland team to play
South Auckland (Waikato).{{cite news Powell then finished the season with 3 big matches for Richmond. They played the
1934 New South Wales champions Western Suburbs twice recording 18–16 and 10–3 wins before crowds of 15,000 and 13,000 respectively.{{cite news
New Zealand debut v Australia Powell played 18 games for Richmond in
1935, scoring 4 tries. Reports of him early in the season were critical saying that he was holding on to the ball too long and being caught with it. After round 4 against
Ponsonby it was reported that he "showed improvement, but his play was not up to that of last season".{{cite news In the match for the North Island he scored a try in their 19–18 win though he was said to have "played better games". His try came after he "chimed in twice to a North Island passing rush and finally scored wide out".{{cite news Immediately after the match for Auckland, the
New Zealand team to play the first test against
Australia was chosen. Powell was selected at half back with
Stan Prentice and
Arthur Kay outside him in the five eighths positions.{{cite news
New Zealand v England The
1936 season saw Powell make 19 appearances for Richmond. After 6 rounds of the Fox Memorial the
Herald reported Powell was the best half back in
Auckland along with
Frank Halloran of
Ponsonby, however [Powell] has proved sturdy on defence, and this may be the deciding factor in his favour when the final Auckland team is chosen".{{cite news Powell's performance was enough to convince the selectors (
Bert Avery,
Thomas McClymont, and
Jim Amos) to choose him to play in the first test at Carlaw Park. It was said his selection was justified as he was "the soundest all-round half-back".{{cite news Powell was then chosen for the second test which was played at the same venue a week later with it said "Powell is safe and sound in all departments at half-back, and he will open up the play if the ball is heeled to him".{{cite news Powell then returned to club football and played 6 matches for Richmond before the season end. They were neck and neck with
Manukau in the Fox Memorial championship before a loss to
North Shore Albions in the penultimate round saw Manukau leap frog them into first place and they stayed there after a final round win. Richmond did however have the 'last laugh' when they beat Manukau to win the Stormont Shield on 3 October by 30 points to 9 to finish the club season in Auckland.{{cite news
Richmond and Auckland In
1937 Powell played 19 matches for Richmond, scoring 3 tries. After 2 preseason games and 2 Fox Memorial games Powell was selected to play for
Auckland against Auckland Māori (Tāmaki). The match was played midweek at Carlaw Park on 12 May and saw Auckland win 24–14.{{cite news
Final season for Richmond and retirement The
1938 season was to be Powell's last season of rugby league. He played 17 games and scored 3 tries as Richmond could only manage 5th in the Fox Memorial competition. They did however lift the Stormont Shield though Powell was not part of the side as he had stopped playing following their 6 August match against
Marist in the penultimate round of the Fox Memorial. Perhaps fittingly he played halfback in the match after spending much of the season in other positions.{{cite news Powell had obviously retired late in the 1938 season missing their final 6 games however he made one more appearance for Richmond in round 3 in
1939. Several teams had been hit hard by influenza and so he turned out at halfback with Watkins are standoff.{{cite news In August 1941 Powell was chosen in a "Patriotic Contest" in a match between the "All Golds" and South Auckland. The sides were composed of past
New Zealand and
South Auckland representative players with Powell at halfback.{{cite news ==Personal life and death==