'It was a pretty low point in my life': Kurtley Beale reflects on rehab and redemption as he targets Wallabies comeback

Time of India

5 hours ago

Kurtley Beale (via Getty Images)
Wallabies great Kurtley Beale has come to terms with his life-changing time in rehab in 2013, a year that he admits was "embarrassing" but one that was needed. Admittedly fueled by booze and bad choices that were ready to put paid to his rugby career, Beale now regards that nadir as a turning point.
A dozen years on, the 95-test veteran is hell-bent on writing a memorable comeback to the Australian team for the British and Irish Lions tour.
Kurtley Beale's path to rehab and redemption powers Wallabies' comeback aspirations
It was 2013, mere months before the British and Irish Lions toured Australia, when Kurtley Beale hit rock bottom. Sent home from South Africa following a drunken fight with Melbourne Rebels teammates Cooper Vuna and Gareth Delve, Beale voluntarily checked himself into rehab, recognizing that his alcohol struggle had gotten the best of him.
"The three, four months leading into the last Lions series was quite heavy," Beale said. ""I got sent home from South Africa. I was suspended indefinitely. And from then, I decided to check myself into rehab to have a real good, hard think about some of the decisions that were happening in the lead-up to the incident. The big thing I learned about was just where my behaviours came from - like from a young age and what I saw growing up.
But at the end of the day, I had to take responsibility for my actions and not make excuses about it going forward, and really own it, really own my mistakes and try and learn from them."
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Rehab was not a cakewalk. Beale called the experience confrontational and isolating, with classes that made him study his childhood, mental health issues, and patterns of addiction. "There was a period there when I was in rehab, kind of accepting the fact that I was in denial about a lot of the things," Beale said.
"As soon as I kind of manned up and faced them, reality hit. We're all humans, we all make mistakes, and it's unfortunate being in the limelight as well.
It's all over the pages - like all your issues and all your problems. But it is what it is, right? It's part of the parcel, I guess, of being a professional sports person."
He further described how rehab really was: "You have your own room. You can't have your phone, you're isolated from the outside world.
And you go into these sessions where you're learning about your behaviours and picking up if you have certain issues around depression, anxiety, addiction, addictive behaviours, how to deal with them. And just talking about your inner child - it's going pretty deep. All that kind of stuff.
It was eye opening. It was a pretty low point in my life. Pretty embarrassing as well."
Despite the upheaval, Beale returned in time to be a member of the Wallabies' 2013 Lions team coached by Robbie Deans, one of his earliest coaches.
Deans remained a supporter of Beale, even following a costly error while taking a possible match-winning penalty during the first test. Beale was redeemed by having a solid performance in the second Test win.
Twelve years on, Beale's passion to wear the gold jersey is greater than ever. Having overcome a ruptured Achilles tendon he sustained in 2024, a few weeks after being recalled by Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, Beale was back playing for the Western Force in May 2025 and has been intensely training ever since.
He's already slated to face the Lions in a Western Force fixture on June 28 and possibly again in July as part of Invitational and First Nations squads. But it's a full international recall that Beale craves.
"Through the tough times, I've always visualized my comeback and seeing myself come back and represent at the highest level," Beale said. "So I feel like I'll be ready if given the opportunity. It would be a dream come true."
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