Wallabies back Andrew Kellaway is pushing to be back at the end of the month as he looks to stake his claims ahead of this year's World Cup.
Kellaway has not featured since fracturing his foot during November's one-point loss to world number-one-ranked Ireland in Dublin.
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He is eager to return for round five against the Reds, although will more likely suit up for their trip to Fiji to face the Drua.
“Offical timeline has me coming back around round six against the Drua in Fiji but like all things we’re trying to get back as quickly as possible so quietly hoping for the Reds," he told Rugby.com.au ahead of Super Round.
“I’m back to pretty much full sprinting, we’re starting to touch the top end so everything’s back to normal so it’s about doing it repeatedly.
“That’s the challenge at the moment.”
It's the second time in two years Kellaway has missed the start of the Super Rugby Pacific season with a foot fracture, whilst a hamstring injury saw him miss the final two Tests against England along with the Rugby Championship opener against Argentina.
Despite becoming familiar with the rehab process, the 27-year-old was far from downtrodden.
“Life’s pretty good. We live in the best country in the world and it’s pretty hard to get down about that," he said with a smile
“The hard thing about rehab is you have these moments where you make heaps of progression. Things will happen really quickly and you might look different on Friday as you do on Monday and then you might have weeks where Monday-Friday looks the same and nothing changes.
“There the tough weeks so the way you get through it is finding positives in other stuff.”
When asked what keeps him positive, Kellaway remains an avid golfer, excited to be able to return to the course "The handicap's blown out, it was 13 but 16 now"
Along with this, the 2021 Rookie of the Year is already looking at life away from the Rugby field, splitting his rehab time with work at Investment company Triple 8 Capital as a Research Intern.
Fellow Wallaby Matt Philip has also picked up work with real estate company Colliers selling development sites doing his recovery from an ACL injury as the pair look to set themselves for the future.
“The thing is I know by the time I want to finish, it’s important to me that I’m employable so I don’t have that teething period post-career,” Kellaway admits
“Some people don’t have that same value placed on that stuff and that’s fine. I know for me it’s really important, I’m recently married so I want to be in a position when finished that I can still take care of my family.”
"It's been awesome," Philip added.
"At the start of the ACL rehab, there's not much you can do so I didn't want to be banging my head against the wall.
"I wanted to get that positive out of all the extra time I have not playing every week. I've made a lot of development off the field so it's been great
The focus for Kellaway remains grinding his way back onto the field to impress new coach Eddie Jones.
There are still questions about where he plays, used largely at outside centre and on the wing by the Rebels, before slotting into fullback for the Bledisloe Cup.
In Kellaway's mind, it doesn't really matter. He knows all that counts of performing regardless of the number on his back.
“Everyone has everything to prove. Past performances may count for a little but at the end of the day you have to play well now to get picked," he believes.
“There’s definitely a bit more edge around the joint and we’re definitely feeling that.
“We haven’t had that conversation (around position)…at the end of the day it’s about playing good footy and the truth of the matter is I don’t think it matters where I play, it matters how you do it.
“Wherever it is, I just have to rip in and that’s the only thing that will get you picked.”
