Canberra Raiders prop and former Wallaroos forward Grace Kemp has championed the national team's joint complaint against Rugby Australia, demanding immediate change.
On Monday, Kemp added her name to the joint statement by Wallaroos players which called out the governing body's lack of funding and unequal support afforded to the women's game.
"You said our program would go professional, and our coach would be full-time. How many coaches has Eddie taken to the World Cup?" the statement posted to social media read.
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"You continually say we don't have enough resources and yet we all saw the World Cup send-off for the Wallabies."
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Kemp, who represented the Wallaroos on six occasions after making her international debut last July, played the past four seasons with the Brumbies in the Super W league before joining the Raiders' inaugural NRLW side.
Speaking on Wide World of Sports' NRLW Weekly podcast, Kemp called for greater support for Australia's 15-a-side team in high-performance settings.
"The girls have come together — which is awesome to see — and they've created that statement to get a better backing from Rugby Australia," she said.
"The coaching staff and everyone involved in the Wallaroos as a whole are amazing but they need that backing to be able to support the girls fully.
"They need change now, and I guess we're all sick of hearing that change is coming. It needs to happen now for them to be able to be athletes and to be able to be in that high-performance space."
NRLW legend and former Wallaroo Ruan Sims labelled the move as "incredibly brave".
Converting codes after she was omitted from the Wallaroos squad for a Test match against Fijiana in May, Kemp said she feels well supported by Canberra in the NRLW system.
"At the Raiders, I'm able to be an athlete — to go into [our] centre of excellence and train and recover properly. We get physio, we get blood tests done monthly just to check in on our health, and that's the difference between the [codes]. We're supported off the field as well as on the field," she said.
"That's where the big gap falls and it's definitely a gap that needs to be filled."
Included in the Wallaroos' appeal is that their coach Jay Tregonning, who is employed as a school teacher, be brought on full-time.
"Everything from performance through to health, they all come together to create the perfect athlete, so the fact that the girls are taking a stand for that [and] backing their coaches and support staff," Kemp said.
"It's pushing the support staff to know that they are backed by the players but they just need that backing from Rugby Australia."
Reflecting on the "Matildas effect" and the subsequent momentum that women's sport has gained, Kemp said the public's response has filled her with pride.
"Being in different levels of the sport you get different levels of support," she said.
"I've been lucky enough to see all those levels and soon enough they won't be different levels, it'll just be a broad spectrum of support.
"It only grows the women's audience more and more as women go live on TV and more articles are put out, it just brings it all together and that's really what [the Wallaroos] are pushing for."
In response to the criticism, Rugby Australia appointed three-time Olympic rower and Sydney 2000 silver medallist Jaime Fernandez as the body's new women's high-performance manager.
Kemp acknowledged that this was "a step in the right direction" but says a lot more ground still needs to be broken.
"It is a big step and I'm looking forward to seeing how that affects the girls and how it ties everyone together," she said.
"It just shows that they are listening but they still need to do more to support the girls."
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