But coming to the end of the season, he is on the right trajectory.
Faddes was one of the best for Otago on Saturday, running at the line with confidence and also making his tackles on defence.
The 26-year-old said it was a great feeling to win the shield.
"It is huge. It was a massive game for us — to put the shield away for the season and then bag a home semifinal. We’ll enjoy the night," Faddes said after the game.
"It was a funny old game. It probably didn’t feel like it on the sideline but the wind was a massive factor. In the first 20 [minutes] we executed really, really well and scored some great width-to-width tries.
"But then we just could not get out of our own half, could not control the kick-offs and they really came at us. They would have had a bit of a tune-up and they came out with a great attitude."
Faddes said the great defensive effort at the end of the game came back to a talk they had midweek about maintaining a better attitude when playing without the ball.
"We have scored some great tries but when you look at it, some of the tries we have conceded have been a little soft. Whether that is putting our heads in dark places or attitude — some of those tries against Tasman, were pretty soft. We put it on us about defending hard. That second half we put a lot into it."
The last 40 minutes were long, he said, with the combination of playing into the wind and in their own half.
He praised the work of his forwards and said the side had done well considering how many players it had lost following last season.
Faddes had a disappointing season with the Highlanders, starting just one game, but after a slow start with Otago this season, he has come on strong over the side’s last few games.
"I’m feeling pretty happy at the moment. It wasn’t a great start — especially at Mitre 10 Cup as well. There was not too many opportunities in Super Rugby ... When I had the chance I probably did not take the chance as well.
"At the start of the season even in Mitre 10 Cup I was a bit off my game and was probably trying to do too much.
"But I’m really happy with the last half-dozen games ... a lot of people speak [about] how [well] our backs are going. If you are not a threat then there is someone else. We’ve got threats right across the park. We’ve got a great 10 as well. It is just exciting heading into the playoffs."