But signing with the ACT Brumbies has come at a cost, coronavirus restrictions forcing him to spend most of the year living in a different country to his partner, daughter and mum.

Kata was firming as one of the Super Rugby rookies of the year before the season was suspended indefinitely due to health concerns last month.

The wrecking-ball winger scored five tries in his first six games, helping the Brumbies to five wins and their best start to a season in 16 years and shattering try-scoring records in the process.

Kata showed that prowess in his 90-odd games in the NRL, earning him international duties for Tonga and New Zealand before falling out of favour and deciding to switch back to his rugby roots.

The 25-year-old says McKellar is the main reason he has been able to turn it all around and become the consistent X-factor the Brumbies have been craving.

"Dan has pretty much given me a licence to be here, there and everywhere," Kata said.

"But then behind the doors, I love the way he's coaching me. He's been honest with me, telling me straight up what I have to be and what I need to be better at.

"To be at my best I need him to be on me ... I want to learn from him. He's one of the best coach I've ever had.

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"During my career I've had a few coaches that were straight up with me and I need that, but Dan is one of the best and telling me what he needs for each week. Makes sure I'm never comfortable and that's what I love.

"I'm just enjoying my footy at the moment. That's what I love the most and I'm just glad I made the right choice to be at this club."

Kata has made plenty of sacrifices to play in Canberra and Mother's Day will be a tough one for the battering ram. Kata hasn't seen partner Malia and daughter Si'i since the Brumbies beat the Waikato Chiefs on February 22 in New Zealand, adding to the frustration of not being able to play Super Rugby every weekend.

But the Brumbies are making sure player mental health and wellbeing is the No. 1 priority during the coronavirus shutdown, with McKellar constantly checking in with members of his squad.

The players could return to training on Monday after an application was lodged to start Super Rugby preparations as a group.

They will initially be limited to working in groups of 10 before slowly moving towards contact training and eventually a professional rugby restart in July.

McKellar has set players mini tasks to help them navigate the uncertainty, narrowing the focus to individuals to give them something to improve on at every training session.

"I don't just worry about the old players, the young players or the new players, I worry about us as a group," McKellar said. "You've just got to look out for each other, ask one another if you're OK and encouraging them to speak up.

"I think back to the beginning as 2018 and as a team you go through the whole win, loss thing which is different to what's happening now. But the attitude and talk is about sticking tight.

"We are genuinely a family club. We need to stick together and understand we'll do that through strong leadership and understanding the tide will turn.

"There's always something you can work on during this period. We've broken it down into two week blocks.

"You can improve your kicking. Or you can improve your left-to-right pass. It's a chance to make those little improvements."

The Brumbies scored 31 tries in their first six games this year and rocketed up the standings to be second overall before the competition was shutdown.

Rugby Australia officials are working on alternative competition models for the rest of the year if professional sport is given the all clear to resume in some form in the coming months, with an all-Australia season looming as the most likely outcome.