He played as a stand-off in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s for the Sheffield Eagles, the Keighley Cougars and the Leeds Rhinos, as well as Balmain Tigers and Gold Coast Seagulls in Australia.

[citation needed] Powell played for Leeds at stand-off half in their 1998 Super League Grand Final loss to Wigan.

The cup final defeat did not appear to affect Leeds' Super League form as they established a commanding lead at the top of the table.

In spite of this, it was announced in July 2003 that Powell would be moved into a director of rugby role the following season to make way for Tony Smith to take over as head coach.

[11] During his tenure as Rhinos coach, he handed debuts to numerous future club legends including Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow, Matt Diskin and Ryan Bailey.

[16] He oversaw one of the most successful periods in Featherstone Rovers' history, leading them to three consecutive Championship League Leaders' Shields and Grand Finals between 2010 and 2012.

[17] Despite winning the Championship Grand Final in 2011, Featherstone were not promoted to super league due to the controversial licensing system in place at the time.

[22] Powell oversaw arguably one of Castleford's greatest ever seasons in 2017 when they won the League Leaders' Shield by topping the table for the first time in their history.

[23] Despite finishing first in the regular season by a record margin, a first top flight title continued to allude Powell as the Tigers were defeated in the 2017 Super League Grand Final by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.

On 30 July 2023, an official statement from Warrington confirmed, that Powell (alongside assistant coach Ryan Sheridan), had left the club by mutual consent, after losing a 6th consecutive game to bottom-placed Wakefield Trinity.

[27][28] On 24 September 2023, it was announced that Powell would take over as head coach on a four-year deal following Wakefield's relegation from Super League.