Age 40 is when most top-level rugby league players have the feet up, thinking how great they used to be. Maybe they're in the front bar watching a game and telling anyone who will listen how much better things were back in their day.

Not Steph Hancock, who crossed the big four zero during the week, but is still lacing up the boots and looking exactly like what she's been for almost 20 years – one of the best props in the world.

Hancock, the oldest top-level player in the country, came out of retirement for Gold Coast's inaugural NRLW season in what was originally meant to be just a year of bench cameos for the fledgling Titans.

But Hancock, who made her Jillaroos debut in 2003, was pitched into the starting side last week and helped guide the club to their first win, a 26-16 triumph over the Roosters.

She'll again start at prop against Parramatta on Sunday, taking on players half her age and showing them that even after two decades at the top level, you're only as old as you feel.

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"We've got a lot of young girls, I think 14 of them are under 20. My little buddy April (Ngatupuna) came off the bench and got her first taste and all she could say to me was 'holy bloody hell' because it was so overwhelming," Hancock said.

"But they're enjoying every second of it. It was pretty scrappy, I shouldn't be so hard on us, it was only our second game together. I'm proud of us for getting our first win but we all know we can play a lot better than that.

"Usually the second day is the worst but the first two hours after the game I'm struggling, I need help coming out of the ice bath. But I've loved every second of it. I didn't expect to play this much, I thought it would be a bit of impact off the bench.

"I don't know why Jamie (Feeney, coach) started me but I don't want to let him down. And if I want to keep playing the rest of the season I have to be able to show up and prove I'm capable of what I need to do."

Hancock's last hurrah in rugby league was supposed to be in 2020, when she hung up the boots after helping guide Queensland to an Origin victory over New South Wales in November.

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It would have been a fitting end to her glittering career – a pioneer of the women's game, Hancock has 20 Jillaroos and 16 Queensland appearances to her credit.

She was still at the top of her game when she retired, and subsequently found life without the game she loved to be tougher than imagined.

"I gave it away after Origin in 2020 – the Christmas period and school holidays were great, but when I listened to the girls talking about starting pre-season I thought 'what the bloody hell am I doing?'" Hancock said.

"Then I went to present the girls with their Origin jerseys in 2021 and not being a player, not being part of that scene, was so awkward to me. I watched the game and thought 'why did I give away something I love so much?' 

"I couldn't even go watch BHP Premiership games.

"Jamie and I had a bit of a welfare check on each other and it turned from 'will you come be a mentor to the Titans girls' to me saying 'I want to play, I'm not ready to go drinking the night before a game with you fellas.'

"I mentally struggled without footy, because it's been such a big part of my life."

There has been a generational shift in women's rugby league in recent years – Hancock has begun playing with and against girls she's known since they were 12 years old and is still keeping up with the best the NRLW has to offer.

Plenty of Hancock's contemporaries from her early days fought past their prime to appear in the competition's first few seasons, but Hancock is something else all together. She isn't just surviving, but thriving.

She is still one of the most effective forwards in the game; against the Roosters she ran for 81 metres, made 30 tackles and threw several late offloads.

"The on-field stuff, I'm happy just to do what I have to do. It's so beautiful to watch girls like Destiny Brill, little Jasmine Peters, Keelie Joseph who plays for the Roosters – all these kids I've known since they were 12, they're hitting 20 years of age and being able to watch them play NRLW and play with and against them, it makes me emotional because I'm so proud of them all," Hancock said.

"I wouldn't change a thing. I'm so thankful social media wasn't around when I was their age, we could just enjoy being a footballer without any pressure. It's not me, it's the girls before me, what they did, and we just continued the path.

"These girls don't have to pay anything, they get all the nice things, they stay in nice places, they have strength and conditioning coaches and physios and doctors, I'm happy all the hard work has got us where we are now.

"I'm grateful, some people ask if I'm dirty because everyone gets money now, but I'm not. We created this, that's what makes me happy."

Hancock kept a lid on things for her 40th earlier this week. She's hopefully saving the celebrations until after the NRLW grand final. Maybe this will be her last year, maybe it won't. You're a long time retired. Hancock understands that now.

The Titans are 1-1 after two rounds with the match against Parramatta crucial if they're to establish themselves as a finals side.

Given their improvement against the Roosters, and Hancock's presence up-front, you'd be mad to write them off.

"I just wanted to get on the rums, but I couldn't because it's midweek," Hancock said.

"I don't know how I'm feeling about turning 40. I'm hoping we improve out of sight and make it to the grand final at Redcliffe and then I can celebrate 40."