Trained as a teacher, Jacquelin Magnay started in journalism at the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader and within six months was the sports editor.
She was prompted to take action when radio commentator and Balmain Tigers coach Alan Jones told her to stop behaving like a temperamental schoolgirl.
[citation needed] Magnay was successful in her complaint to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission about dressing room access, forcing the Balmain rugby league club to issue a public apology in late 1995.
[3] Magnay won a Walkley Award in 2004 for a series of articles on a drugs scandal involving Australian Institute of Sport cyclists.
[6] She was a regular contributor to the Sunday morning Australian Broadcasting Corporation sports program Offsiders,[7] hosted by Barrie Cassidy.