Tom Robertson remains a local boy despite being on the verge of debuting for the Wallabies, less than a year after making his first appearance in Super Rugby.

Robertson had always been touted as one to watch but the 22-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise this year and earlier in the week was named on the bench for Australia’s clash with Argentina on Saturday night at Perth.

"It still hasn't fully sunk in," Robertson said.

"It will once you run out but you stand 20 metres away from the bench when you're in your suit [and not playing], so I guess it'll be a different feeling when I'm on the bench and ready to go on.

"I said to my Dad this year that I just wanted to get 30 seconds off the bench for the Waratahs so I could actually call myself a professional footy player. I didn't expect to be here at the start of the year. I want as many minutes as I can.”

After playing his junior rugby locally, Robertson went on to play at St Joseph's College in Hunter's Hill before perfecting the art of front row play at the Sydney University Football Club.

It's been reported that Robertson spends several hours at the Waratahs each week, cutting up his own clips of opposition front-rows. 

Robertson doesn't know how to cut his own clips on the Wallabies system but insists scrum coach Mario Ledesma's advice, particularly ahead of a game against the Pumas, has been beneficial. 

Robertson, who is also undertaking a medicine degree, reckons he spends 30 to 40 hours a week studying, and for the record, he's sick of filling out special consideration forms. 

"Instead of after training going back into your room and watching Netflix, I go back and study," Robertson said. "I'm not super smart, I have to study. It's not rocket science, you just don't watch TV."  

According to Robertson, Nick Phipps is the one who has spread the "doc" nickname around Wallabies camp.

He said he feels like a "fraud" – he is only in his first year of study – and particularly when his teammates come and ask if he can mend their bodies, like when second-rower Adam Coleman needed stitches in his bottom lip during the Springboks game. 

"I said the only stitches I'd done was on a pig carcass so I probably wouldn't be as good as that," Robertson said. 

Robertson is taking everything in his stride, no matter how much of a whirlwind the last six months have been, but is itching to stamp his mark on international rugby. 

"Any minutes would be great," Robertson said. "They [Argentina] are renowned for their scrum so the onus is going to be on me to keep it up."