Kellaway thought a knock to the neck during a club rugby game for Randwick three days earlier explained why he had a sore throat but quickly realised when he couldn't get enough oxygen into his lungs, he needed help.

He jumped in the car, and drove to seek immediate medical attention.

"I rushed in for a scan and they rushed me to the hospital so they opened the airway back up," Kellaway said. "I live with [Waratahs halfback] Jake Gordon and he saw me in the morning and was pretty upset I didn't come and wake him up for help. It was scary.

"I woke up on the Tuesday and couldn't breathe in bed. I drove there, that was probably a little bit reckless. I didn't know the extent of it. I didn't even know there was a bone there. It was such a bizarre thing and it swelled up over my vocal chords so I didn't really think it was serious until I got to the hospital and they stuck the camera up my nose and down the back of my throat. It looked pretty bad in there."

As it turned out, Kellaway sustained a fracture of the hyoid bone an injury that ruled him out of the Kings, Reds and Blues fixtures.

The 21-year-old is in line to make his return this weekend against the Melbourne Rebels and is thankful to be back on the paddock.

"There's not much you can do," Kellaway said. "It's a pretty tough area to rehab but [there was] no heavy breathing, so no exercise. It was pretty boring."

Coach Daryl Gibson will have a couple of selection dilemmas this week with Kellaway, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Reece Robinson and Cam Clark all hoping to squeeze into one of two starting wing spots.

Naiyaravoro has been given the all-clear to come back from a hand injury.

There are also a handful of players under an injury cloud with back-rower Michael Wells (hamstring) and Harry Jones (shoulder) sitting out Monday's training, but Gibson is confident both will be eligible for selection.

Jack Dempsey was seen at training doing some light running in a positive indication he may return before the season is out.

There was also the familiar faces of Wallabies skills coach Mick Byrne and scrum coach Mario Ledesma on deck at Moore Park to offer advice.

The Waratahs have begun doing their homework on the Rebels, with the prime focus making sure they eradicate poor starts.

"The first half in Melbourne against the Rebels [in March] we dominated large parts of it with some excellent play and then pushed the ball and forced passes which created errors and put ourselves under pressure," Gibson said. "We didn't come away with points. That's been the story of our season."

Centre Rob Horne echoed Gibson's feelings, saying an 80-minute performance was needed if NSW were to overcome the cellar-dwellers of the Australian conference on Sunday at Allianz Stadium.

"We have to start better and we can't wait until we're in a corner to start throwing punches," Horne said. "Hopefully we can put together an 80-minute performance."

Horne, who will depart NSW at the end of the season to join British Premiership side Northampton Saints, said he wasn't getting too sentimental in his final year at the club.

He has put his hand up for Wallabies selection but said he was more focused on doing his job for the Waratahs.

"Within these four walls we're pretty engulfed in what we're doing and pretty focused on putting out a good performance that we all want," Horne said. "At the moment, I'm pretty keen to play well for NSW and hopefully get a bit of momentum for us."