AFLW star Jacinda Barclay is arguably one of the most multi-talented sportswomen in Australia today.

The 27-year-old GWS Giants gun has quite a history across a number of international sports, prompting the The Age to dub her the “Sonny Bill Williams of women’s sport”. Before joining the AFLW for its inaugural season in 2017, Barclay represented the Emeralds, Australia’s women’s baseball team, in five World Cups.

She also played American football for the Chicago Bliss in the United States’ Legends Football League — but it was there she found her toughest moral dilemma.

The competition was rebranded from the “Lingerie Football League” in 2013 after facing strong backlash for featuring players in underwear but still refused to pay its players.

Round 18

Writing in a recent Players Voicecolumn, Barclay outlined the struggle she experienced as a young woman competing in a league she suggested was more interested in her looks than her skill on the paddock.

“Playing quarterback for the Chicago Bliss was a great experience except for the utterly disrespectful manner in which the struggle for equality was received,” she wrote.

“The nature of this organisation and the players’ institutionalisation was most disheartening.”

Barclay said the attitude of the league’s administrators hadn’t changed despite beginning to move away from scantily-clad outfits.

“Though they had changed the name of the league from Lingerie Football League to Legends Football League, they had really changed nothing,” she wrote.

“I coped through the time at LFL by finding the positive. I chose to see it from a totally different angle. I learned to appreciate the fans. I think the LFL lifted a lot of insecure men who don’t really get to speak to women much.”

Barclay said “many women” before her had raised an issue with the “disrespectful” nature of the league, who did not pay the athletes for their performance.

According to TheBigLead, CEO Mitchell Mortaza said if they “paid a dime to a player, we wouldn’t sustain a season of play”.

SQUAD! A post shared by Jacinda Barclay (@jacindabarclay) on Aug 31, 2016 at 6:40am PDT

“Playing quarterback for the Chicago Bliss was a great experience except for the utterly disrespectful manner in which the struggle for equality was received,” Barclay said.

“Though many women before me had addressed the issue with the LFL board, it seems that each attempt had made no impact. I found myself alone in the revolution to change the exploitation from money-making ‘sexy’ mules to respected professional athletes.”

The Aussie star said she tried orchestrating a Legends League strike, but her rallying fell on deaf ears.

“It took me years of learning, failing to speak and enduring to find my voice. I was going to use it to fight for me and other female athletes’ honour as professional athletes. I thought the players were being exploited by not getting any pay at all, and so I suggested to the players that they should strike with me.

“The players however chose not to, out of fear of consequences to their careers.”

Barclay is currently a handy utility for the GWS Giants, who have played through a so-so 2018 season with three wins and three losses to sit at fifth on the ladder.

“The girls are growing together and closer than ever. I am honoured and grateful to play alongside players of such great calibre, skills and ethics as Courtney Gum, Cora Staunton, Amanda Farrugia and Alicia Eva,” she wrote. “I am excited to see the heights we will reach together.”