Brooke Anderson was one of Australia's most promising rugby sevens players before she retired but is now poised for a return to sport with the Parramatta Eels.

It took one training session for former Australian rugby sevens player Brooke Anderson to realise that retiring from elite sport was a mistake.

Anderson was a mainstay of the women's sevens set-up at national level from her teen years, when she co-captained the Australian side at the Youth Olympics.

But unable to make a living wage and having undergone two major surgeries before her 20th birthday, Anderson made the tough decision to enter the workforce and turn her back on rugby sevens.

As time ticked on, a return to sport fell further to the back of her mind.

"I had a five-year break and I started work," she told AAP.

"At the moment, I'm on a job site driving a forklift, but it's six days a week. It's full-time work; it's hard to be able to leave (to play sport).

"With the money situation, it felt like a risk to leave."

All the while, Anderson's friend and former sevens teammate Tiana Penitani had forged a career in the NRLW, first with St George Illawarra and now Parramatta.

Penitani had been trying to coax her friend out of retirement for years and ahead of the 2022 NRLW season, Anderson finally agreed to join her at training for Cronulla's women's premiership campaign.

"I said to 'Ti', I'll just jump in and have a crack'," she said.

"She's been telling me for years that I would love it.

"I had a run and it was the most fun I'd had in years. I don't know why I stopped."

On the back of the Sharks' charge to the grand final and with her boss' blessing, Anderson signed a contract with the Eels and is in line to make her NRLW debut when the season begins on August 20.

"When I got offered a contract with Parra, (work) were happy to support me, so I'm very grateful," she said.

"I tried to play it off as I was done, that I'd retired. But no, now here we are."

Anderson said switching codes had required recalibration on and off the field.

"The culture is very different," she said.

"Sevens is a very small bunch of people all competing for the same spots, but in league there are heaps of girls playing.

"I like it more because of the contact, it's very enclosed. I'm sure everyone loves putting shots on.

"I'm still obviously very green but 'Ti' just said get in, hit hard, run hard and you'll be fine."