Andrew Kellaway has this Cullen-like trait but the Wallabies are wasting it

Over the last month Eddie Jones went about rejuvenating the Wallabies by handing over key roles to the next generation.

A number of candidates showed immediate promise and more than enough hope in the final two Test against the All Blacks.

Tom Hooper, Angus Bell, Jordan Petaia, Mark Nawaqanitawase, and Carter Gordon were some of the players to establish themselves.

One less heralded move, but perhaps the most valuable find for Jones, was the return of Andrew Kellaway and continuation of his transition to fullback since his breakout year in 2021 with 9 Test tries on the wing.

After Tom Wright was axed following two up-and-down performances, Kellaway has added an extremely valuable missing ingredient on attack.

The 27-year-old seems to be one of the only players in the side who can regularly hit anticipatory support lines with decent timing.

This ability to link up meant that Kellaway finished with the second most line breaks (4) for the Wallabies this year despite only playing two of the four games. It could have been plenty more.

Great fullbacks of the past like All Black Christian Cullen had physical tools like evasive running ability, but what made him a world class player was his vision and anticipation to hit the gap.

He saw opportunities unfolding before they were there and had the uncanny ability to time his arrival perfectly to take advantage when they opened.

So few players in the modern day possess this, partly due to the lack of space around the field because of great defences, and partly due to instinctual play being less of a priority in team structures.

When you have a player like Kellaway, you don’t need space to be in the defensive line because they simply create it in combination with another skilled player.

The Wallabies don’t have much going on here but they unintentionally craft a beautiful ‘trojan horse’ play as the All Blacks’ defence lets the dummy runner Kellaway (15) through unwittingly.

The All Blacks assessed no threat from Kellaway as the flat option for Samu Kerevi once the ball went out the back to Jordan Petaia (13).

He slipped through the line much like a trojan horse, only to become a viable option again once Petaia punched through a one-on-one with Ardie Savea.

It was excellent play from two players combining to create something from nothing with Petaia’s offload finding Kellaway in open pasture.

An issue for the Wallabies in both Tests was their support play, as they struggled to capitalise on clean breaks nearly every time.

Halfback Tate McDermott has an excellent running game yet his support play as a No 9 hasn’t developed. He does not run positive support lines and anticipate breaks unfolding often.

On this occasion his decision-making and lack of involvement helps the All Blacks shut down the threat.

McDermott is seen pointing out to Nawaqanitawase on the right, who was calling for the kick option.

The halfback never attempts to reach full speed, running at half-pace instructing Kellaway what to do. When Kellaway opens to pass to him inside, he isn’t there.

McDermott’s job here isn’t to tell the ball carrier what to do. His job is to get into position to be another support option, which he failed to do.

Kellaway took the defender Richie Mo’unga out of play.

Had McDermott been at full pace off Kellaway’s shoulder, he personally would have had the option to hold Barrett (15) in cover and put in the pass or the grubber kick himself for Nawaqanitawase (14).

He is two or three metres behind where he needed to be because he sat back and barked orders instead of reading what Kellaway wanted from him.

This cost the Wallabies a big opportunity.

The difference in support depth can be illustrated by Rieko Ioane (13) and Cam Roigard (21) late in the game who are flat in support inside Mark Telea. They are almost in line with him ready to receive.

Ioane became the beneficiary and scored from the offload, but even Roigard hustled hard to be right off his hip.

Kellaway is one of the only Wallabies who understands how to get into these positions.

Another opportunity presented in the first half to combine with Petaia, but this time the centre didn’t sense the window to provide for his fullback.

Petaia dummied and took on the defence, but Kellaway anticipated the edge defence collapsing.

He beat Mark Telea on an underneath route to be in a position for an offload again.

As Petaia fought through tackles his upper body became free. Fullback Beauden Barrett was drawn in to complete the tackle on him.

A narrow window presented to link with Kellaway on the outside with a flick offload, with another man unmarked outside in Jed Holloway.

If the pass was given the Wallabies have a high chance to finish.

Kellaway at speed could get through the cover tackle of Mo’unga and score or find a late pass to Holloway. Instead the ball dies with Petaia.

There were two plays by Mark Nawaqanitawase that were almost carbon copies of each other.

The Australian right wing is a powerful ball carrier, a bit unconventional, but he is a handful to bring down. He has an offload game which makes him a serious threat.

Here in Melbourne in the early stages he shrugged off multiple All Black defenders.

The closest support players, Carter Gordon (10) and Tate McDermott (9) do not anticipate the line break unfolding and do not work off-the-ball to find a support line.

Even as Nawaqanitawase fended off the last player Ioane (13), there is no urgency for anyone to go with him.

He ended up in the backfield all alone with no option but to try and gun it around Beauden Barrett.

The support play is a big concern. With just one halves option inside, he could have squared up Barrett and put them under the sticks for seven points.

Gordon literally had his hands on Nawaqanitawase’s back at the start of the play but didn’t stay with him.

The Wallaby No 14 was the one who had to do all the work to get through the All Black defence and yet no one else could do the easier job of being there in support.

In Dunedin the winger produced nearly the exact same play but this time around Australia’s best support runner was with him.

The split second Nawaqanitawase poked his nose through the line, both Kellaway and Fraser McReight sniffed the opportunity and put the foot on the gas.

They both showed the anticipation that was missing Melbourne and the Wallabies fullback screamed for the ball.

Nawaqanitawase is brought down this time but heard the call, Kellaway’s timing onto the offload was perfect and he exploded into the open field once again but with support lagging.

McReight ended up a late option for Kellaway but he couldn’t find it. The Wallabies stayed composed and finished a few phases later through Tom Hooper in the corner.

There are parts to the Wallabies’ attacking game that are flourishing but the shared understanding is not there.

They have creators in players like Kerevi, Nawaqanitawase and Petaia who can use their power, draw in defenders and find an offload.

They have a genuine line-running fullback in Kellaway who needs to combine with these players as much as possible.

Everyone else needs to map lines off Kellaway because he is going to get open two or three times a game and they absolutely must start finishing these breaks.

From a pullback pass to flyhalf Carter Gordon, the fullback again runs a blistering support line but the problem this time is his winger Nawaqanitawase didn’t go with him early enough, highlighting the lack of combinations still present.

Because Kellaway is such a skilled support runner, the wingers outside have to learn to take off when he goes or miss being too far behind when he is in the clear.

Gordon provided a daring one-hand offload to create the break for him after a beautiful change of angle to attack underneath Leicester Fainga’anuku.

Once he was in the clear Kellaway did a tremendous job of spinning out of Damian McKenzie’s tackle which left no further defenders to beat.

The All Blacks’ last man Will Jordan had to bring the No 15 down from behind, which meant that the Wallabies’ right wing had a walk-in try on offer.

Nawaqanitawase is off the pace by three to four metres on the right edge during the window Kellaway could have got the pass away.

He arrives in the frame as Kellaway is about to hit the turf.

That small timing misjudgement is costly. In this particular Test it was seven points gone begging in a game they lost by three.

From eight line breaks against the All Blacks they only scored tries directly from one of them, a Koroibete finish in the corner close to the line. On two other occasions they scored on the latter phases.

From a possible 56 points from the eight breaks they managed 21. No team is going to finish all their opportunities, however a slight improvement here with one or two more can make a big difference.

More finishes directly from the line breaks themselves should be a priority but they need to lift in support play and that starts with Tate McDermott developing his anticipatory skills as a supporting No 9.

He has the speed and running game to bag plenty of tries backing up inside but is not putting himself in a position to do so.

There is a reason why TJ Perenara is in contention to set the record for most tries in Super Rugby, he is an excellent support runner and knows the lines to run to be in position for the final pass.

Anyone running outside Kellaway has to quickly recognise that he will set them up, while the men inside need to be aware of their fullback looming in support.

The Wallabies have found a mix of backline players with specific skills that compliment each other, now it will just take time to perfect the chemistry.