Maybe after weeks in camp, Scott Johnson's opinion of Powell is now more aligned with Cheika's?
And maybe you're talking through your hat? I think it is fairly well established, from the words out of their own mouths in recent times, that neither Johnson nor O'Connor are exerting themselves over Cheika, but more are working as sounding boards for Cheika's selections. Phipps had a very ordinary Super season and was rated by nearly everybody behind Joe Powell in the Wallabies' stakes this year. Cheika has never rated Joe as evidenced by having him on the bench and either not playing him at all or giving him absolute minimal game time.
It even seems more ludicrous (at least to me) that Phipps will not be playing domestically next year, and while he qualifies under the Giteau rule, I am reminded that you have on various occasions quite lucidly explained why those players should not be used in mid year tests because of the travel involved in making at least two, and maybe three or four, return trips in order to participate. Anyone with an eye to the future, or to 2020, would see the benefit of playing Powell (or Gordon, but he also has been consistently ranked behind Powell this year) over any of the alternatives who are off overseas at the end of the Cup.
I cannot comprehend the logic behind a lot of Cheika's selections/decisions over the past five years, and I know I'm not on my Pat Malone there.