'It's been tough': Recalled Wallaby on fighting for minutes at Waratahs

Playing for his future is adding an extra edge to Friday night’s Super Rugby Pacific derby for fallen Wallabies star Andrew Kellaway.

Kellaway has been recalled to the NSW Waratahs side for only the second time this season and knows he needs to make the most of his opportunity against the Brumbies after a rough two months on the outer.

From the high of playing for his country at a packed Aviva Stadium in Dublin last November to being constantly warming the NSW bench, if in the match-day 23 at all, the 30-year-old admits he’s been riding an emotional rollercoaster.

“It’s been a tough couple of months, so it’s nice to be back in the mix,” Kellaway said on Thursday.

“I haven’t had an extended period like this. I’ve always been very fortunate on that front.

“But I’ve got a young family now, so I can’t really afford to be dwelling on it too much.

“You go home and you’ve got a job to do when you get out of here. So that’s been a nice way to get away from it.”

Saying his stint on the sidelines had been challenging in “all sorts of new ways”, Kellaway has taken a philosophical approach to trying to win back the trust of Waratahs coach Dan McKellar.

After starting at fullback in round four, the 49-Test backline utility was made a scapegoat for the Waratahs’ 59-19 home loss to the Hurricanes in Sydney.

“I’m not the first bloke and I won’t be the last to have been on the other side of the selection decisions,” he said.

“So you’ve got to remember that and just get on with it, and I’ve been extremely happy with the way I’ve been training for the last sort of two months.

“That’s all you can do in those situations. Opportunities have been limited, so you just head down.”

Off contract at season’s end, Kellaway will start on the wing in Canberra, unsure but also unconcerned about where to next.

“Look, it’d be nice to get in and have a chance to build some form and do what I know I’m good at, that’s what this weekend is about,” he said.

The precariously seventh-placed Waratahs are in a similar position to Kellaway, also taking it one match at a time.

“Obviously, our outcomes are important, but we’re not sitting in meetings going, ‘it must win,” Dan McKellar said.

“If you look at the last two weeks, we’ve been the dominant side for one hour. The game goes for 80 minutes and we need to be, better across longer periods of time and also deal with momentum shifts when they go against us.”