But Faddes went from sick bay to winner's dais inside four months, as he played in the London leg of the world sevens series, which New Zealand won to put the icing on the cake of a world series victory.
Faddes (21), the Otago outside back, played in the Hong Kong, Tokyo and London legs as the New Zealand side's consistency was rewarded by winning the series.
The New Zealand side lost plenty of players to injury on the way and Faddes, who was initially on an interim contract to back up the main squad, found himself called up.
But it was a hard slog to get up to the expected fitness levels after having spent three days in hospital due to an infected leg in February.
''I went to a tournament in Fiji and came back from it with a bit of what I thought was a grass burn on my right leg. I did not think much about it and just put a cover over it,'' he said.
''Then when I got back from the camp for the Wellington and Las Vegas tournaments it just started getting bigger and bigger. Eventually, my whole leg was blown up from my hip down to my ankle.
''I went into hospital that night and had it drained. They put me on a drip and gave me some antibiotics.''
Faddes got home from hospital but then lost all his fitness as doctors ordered him to have a complete four-week rest.
''That was pretty tough going. I had done a lot of work over the summer with Roy [Otago sevens coach Roy Hawker] and then lost it all.''
The former South Otago High School pupil began the long road back to full fitness and, with a lot of tough sessions, managed to make the squad for three of the final four tournaments of the world series.
The tournament in London was a big hit in the English capital, with more than 100,000 attending over the two days.
''I started the first two games against Canada and Kenya. Titch [coach Gordon Tietjens] was pretty keen to get us out there straight away. Normally, us new guys just come off the bench in those first games.''
The side won both of those games, and then won the title with a convincing victory over Australia in the final. Faddes came off the bench on the second day as New Zealand came home strong.
Now back home in Dunedin, the Balclutha-born speedster's next focus is on trying to make the sevens side to play in the world cup in Russia next month.
There is a training camp in Mt Maunganui, to pick a squad of 12, and with one Super 15 player from each of the five New Zealand sides able to be picked, competition for places is bound to be intense.
Faddes said the intensity of Tietjens' training sessions meant only the toughest survived.
Faddes, who has a two-year contract with Otago, said it had been a great start to the year, making up for what was a disappointing year for him last season, where he failed to secure a place in the Otago side.
He is yet to play a game of full rugby this season due to sevens commitments and fitness issues.
He was hoping to play for University A against Southern in the Cavanagh Trophy match today but had been ruled out by sevens management.
