The supply of chickens, however, isn't as easy to fix as pulling out a few weeds and planting new vegetables. Chickens, apparently, are as hard to find as toilet paper in Canberra since coronavirus changed the world.

It changed Pocock's world, too. He should be in Japan playing what loomed as the final season of his rugby career.

Pocock has been stuck in his Turner house for the past 14 days after arriving home following a stint in Japan. His quarantine period finished on Tuesday, giving him a chance to think about what comes next.

He says the virus-forced Top League cancellation has put at least one more Japanese rugby season on his radar. The earlier-than-expected return to the capital has reminded him how much gardening there is to do at a time when being self sufficient is more important than ever.

There was a time when Pocock hatched 49 chickens in his backyard and neighbours would help recover the ones who escaped. Now Pocock can't find any.

"The garden is a rewilding project at the moment. We're slowly chipping away at that. It's going to need some serious TLC over the next couple of months," Pocock laughs.

"But finding chickens ... that's the hard part. In the past buying chickens was easy, everyone was selling them. But it seems like everyone's been buying chickens in the past couple of months. Maybe everyone realises the benefits of being self-sufficient having chooks. But it's really strange.

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"I guess you realise how lucky we are in Canberra to have to the government we have who are proactive and the health system ... I look from our place in the evening and I've never seen so many people walking in the park.

"It reminds me of the documentary 2040. They look at what the future could be like, and it's a bit like that. It sparks your imagination a bit.

"There are plenty of people doing it tough at the moment and some tough times ahead. But let's hope we can use this time to think more about what the future can be like."

The premature end to the Top League season could have doubled as the end of Pocock's 14-year professional career.

He was considering his rugby future after deciding to retire from Australian rugby duties last year, when a calf injury forced an early end to his Brumbies playing days.

He made it back to be fit for the Wallabies' World Cup campaign and then set his sights on a season with the Wild Knights in Japan, which would have been the third and final year of his contract with the club.

But several factors have prompted a short-term change of thinking. Pocock has been working on other projects outside of rugby, but it seems like there's still some juice in his battle-weary body.

The Wild Knights used Pocock predominantly in the unfamiliar bench role, which gave him a chance to squeeze as much as possible out of himself after 112 Super Rugby games and 78 Tests.

The benefit of that, and the early Top League end, is that Pocock is keen to play on for at least one more year and is training in his home gym to stay fit.

"It's a good question. I really enjoyed the season up there playing a pretty different role," Pocock said.

"Given it was cut short I'll probably head back up there for the next one. I've been working on a couple of different projects and given all the uncertainty with everything ... who knows what the next six or 12 months looks like.

"But at this stage I think I'll head back up there for the next season. I was waiting to see how my body went and if I was still enjoying it."

Pocock was also pleased to see Japanese rugby thrive after hosting the World Cup last year, which smashed attendance records ignited rugby passion.

"[The end of Top League] was disappointing for Japanese rugby because it was pretty incredible to see the difference the World Cup made," Pocock said.

"Sell out crowds, huge support for the Japanese national team players. There were hundreds of people hanging around after games.

"But they did it really well. After the World Cup most of the players spent the next few months doing media. Most days they were on quiz shows ... it seemed like every time there was a TV on you'd see some sort of rugby players."

For now Pocock is happy to settle back into Canberra and reconnect with the nature surrounds he has fallen in love with since moving to the city in 2013.

"Nature offers people a way to feel more grounded. To feel more connected to the world around them and I certainly find it very calming to get out for a walk or whatever it may be.

"We've obviously got to stop the spread through social distancing and doing the right things, but I'm really grateful the government has said you can get out and exercise."