Jul 15th, 2019

Jul 15th, 2019

She's been dubbed the "queen of the juggling act" for good reason and dual-code star Jenna McCormick has runs on the board to prove it.

McCormick, 24, is a key player for the W-League's Brisbane Roar and has been backing it up in the AFLW for the Adelaide Crows since 2017.

W-League seasons typically run from November to February meaning McCormick finishes one code and then jumps straight into another, usually with minimum preparation. She's even competed in both sports in a matter of days, when the W-League post-season clashed with the opening rounds of the AFLW this year.

Tune into Australian Ninja Warrior tonight from 7.30pm (AEST) on Channel Nine to watch multi-code athlete Jenna McCormick tackle the course!

"The crossover is really difficult," McCormick told Wide World of Sports.

AFLW premiership success with the Crows. (AAP)

"When the first AFLW season started in 2017 I was plying my trade in the W-League in Canberra. I wasn't around the girls as much and I missed the captain's announcement, jersey presentations, first training session, everything that had historic meaning. But as much as that sucks it did allow me to focus on my soccer while I was there."

The dual-code athlete's thirst for competing was sparked by watching her father play 500 senior football games while growing up in the South Australian city of Mt Gambier. While football was native to McCormick's upbringing, her love for AFL grew from "playing with the boys at recess and lunchtime and watching it on TV."

Even though being a professional athlete can be socially and emotionally rewarding, devoting so much time to the outside world can be draining. During the 2017-18 W-League season she was playing for Adelaide United and the Crows in the AFLW, which was the first time she had played W-League in the same city as her footy team .

"I was in Adelaide for both of them; there was positives and negatives in that," she said.

"The positives were that I got to sit there and focus on both of them at the same time. But at the same time it kind of hindered me training for soccer four to five days a week and on the off days I was trying to get into footy training as much as I could because I wanted to play and prove myself. And that just burnt me out and unfortunately meant I was only able to give 80 per cent to both sports."

This W-League season the plan for McCormick was to play half a season with the Roar before returning to Adelaide at the start of 2019 to focus on preparing for the AFLW competition.

McCormick playing for the Roar. (AAP)

But McCormick's form was outstanding, prompting talk of a call-up to the Matildas for the FIFA Women's World Cup in France.

Playing alongside Matildas star Clare Polkinghorne in a frugal defensive line at club level, she entered the conversation for possible selection but narrowly missed the cut.

"If I hadn't of stayed, I would have regretted it," McCormick said.

"I stayed and gave it my all but unfortunately it just wasn't meant to be for me. At the time the decision was right to stay and give it every chance. Hopefully there'll be more opportunities through playing W-League."

McCormick will further cement her reputation as a multi-talented athlete when she takes the stage for Nine's Ninja Warrior.

"I've always watched it on TV and would say that looks pretty easy," she said.

"Not actually realising how much strength you need to be able to compete watching these athletes go on there I wanted to challenge myself and test my self like ive never been tested before."