When Andrew Kellaway went overseas, there were genuine thoughts the next time he’d be back home in a Rugby capacity would be for a team reunion.
He’s now in the position to repay the ‘blind faith’ shown by the Rebels after signing a two-year extension.
The 26-year-old has had a dream 12 months, solidifying his spot as one of the first picked in the Wallabies side after a breakout 2021 season.
“I’ve had my eyes closed for the past six months, it’s been such a whirlwind,” Kellaway reflected to reporters.
“I’m pumped to be here in Melbourne…Melbourne threw me a lifeline when no one else would and that’s a debt I haven’t quite repaid yet.
“Another three years gives me a chance to hopefully go close to doing it and making Melbourne home. The chance to play one more Test (as well) is more than enough reason to stay.
“It was almost blind faith (shown by the Rebels to sign him) because I’d done nothing for the Rebels so they had no reason to offer me a deal. Dave Wessels and Footy (Kevin Foote) at the time probably thought they were taking a punt, I hoped it was more assured than that. You want to be able to repay those acts of kindness and that’s what I want to do.”
Kellaway travelled the world before getting his shot in gold, featuring in the UK, New Zealand and Japan before coming back home with the Rebels in time for Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
He openly admits that's where he thought his career would end after struggling to break through with the Waratahs.
Simply having the chance to return home to play Rugby was motivation enough for the winger to repay the debt, only heightened by his rise on the International stage.
“It’s one of those things you reflect on and a lot of the time, I’m still surprised it unfolded the way it did,” he admitted.
“I spent a long time overseas and away from home and I’m not lying when I say I genuinely thought that ship had sailed, I’d spend the rest of my career overseas and not be a Wallaby ever. The next time I’d be back in Australia would be for a reunion with an old team.
“That gravity of that is not lost on me because I was genuinely believing I would stay overseas for the rest of my career so to firstly come back to Melbourne and then to have a chance with the Wallabies and for it to unfold how it did, it was so much fun because you don’t expect it and you are living a day at a time.
“I can’t stress enough how grateful I am and I can’t give more weight to what the Rebels have allowed me to do. They let me go to Japan after COVID and let me come back. There was never any resentment, they let it happen and without them, I wouldn’t have had that experience.”
Kellaway's re-signing comes at a perfect time for the Rebels, who get their inspirational winger back from a stress fracture in his foot.
He joins fellow Wallabies Jordan Uelese and Reece Hodge in the starting side as they prepare for the Brumbies at AAMI Park.
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Sitting towards the bottom of the ladder, the Rebels were forced to look within after their disappointing defeat to the Fijian Drua, keeping the blame solely on themselves.
“It’s always disappointing to lose, we fell away from our structures into that unstructured style that suits the Fijians. They’re very good at it and taught us a few lessons on it,” lock Matt Philip believes.
“We were very disappointed after the loss but it’s all about turning it around and looking forward to the next job which is the Brumbies. While we take lessons from it, we can’t dwell on it for too long and we have to move on.
“I don’t think that’s a reflection on the coaches at all. We definitely have to be better as players.
“We’ve got to have a good lock at ourselves and perform better next week. As a collective, we didn’t play well at all and we were all very disappointed.
“The group was very flat after that game but we’ve worked hard this week and we can only look forward.”
