The player manager – everyone knows he’s that bloke with the $200 haircut in the corner of the club, phone in one hand, drink in the other, eyeing all the talent as it wanders past.

Well not any more.

The modern day manager is more likely to be negotiating with a sponsorship manager or an advertising agency than a bouncer, a barman or a nightclub hostess.

And he could also just well be a she.

Lucy Mills is an AFL manager with A-list clients. She is also quite obviously a woman.

And while it might surprise their fans to know that dual premiership superstar Adam Goodes and fellow Brownlow medallist Jimmy Bartel are both clients of Ms Mills, it is no big deal to her – or them.

“I never saw it as a barrier and I feel if you work hard and get the job done, you will earn respect no matter what industry you are in and no matter what sex you are,” Ms Mills said.

“If you are a lawyer, an accountant, property manager, at one of the major banks – women and men can succeed with the right attitude.”

She said 98 per cent of AFL agents were male.

“So it is man’s world in that sense.

“But if you look at the staff at the AFL, and all the clubs, and the wider sports and entertainment sector, there are numerous women in prominent positions.

“My industry might be male dominated, but that does not stop a woman succeeding.”

As Australia, from the political leaders down, argues over whether the country is a great sexist land, the AFL continues to champion the influence of women on the indigenous game, which permeates from the league’s commission, to the boardroom, the locker room and thousands of Auskick sidelines every weekend.

This weekend will see the inaugural AFL Women’s Exhibition game between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, as the fulcrum of the league’s annual Women’s Round.

And Goodes and Bartel – two of the most respected and recognised sporting names in the country – say they are in no way disadvantaged by having a female manager in a traditionally man’s world.

“The thought of my manager being a female or male is not a factor. I think my advantage is that I have Lucy, because she is the best in the business,” Bartel told AAP.

“My life is so much easier and stress-free because I have an A-grade manager in an industry that is highly strung and very cut-throat.”

Nearly ten years after becoming the first female accredited agent by the AFL’s Player’s Association, general manager of player relations Ian Prendergast said Ms Mills and several female counterparts were gradually changing the face of the AFL’s player management business.

“It has been an industry dominated by men,” Mr Prendergast said.

“But I don’t think gender matters. The players choose who is the best person to represent them, and everyone we accredit has earned the right to do that.”

Having learned the trade under leading AFL agent Paul Connors, who has Chris Judd, Luke Hodge and Luke Ball in his stable, Ms Mills started her own business – The Lighthaus – six months ago.

And in another sign the image of the AFL agent might be changing, the wife of Carlton superstar Judd is in the same Mills management company as some of her husband’s football contemporaries.

“I know her tenacity is admired in the industry and she definitely knows how to mix it with the big boys,” says Rebecca Judd, who recently started presenting the weather for the Nine Network in Melbourne.

“Lucy and I have worked together for almost 10 years now and in this time she has become a close friend and confidant. I wouldn’t be working with the clients I am now if it weren’t for her.”

With Perth model Scherri-Lee Biggs, blogger and model Nadia Coppolino and Lindy Klim – business woman and wife of Olympian swimmer Michael – also in The Lighthaus, the traditional image of an agent’s AFL boy’s club is also being eschewed.

Goodes, who has famously dealt head-on with the ugly reality of prejudice in football, says gender is irrelevant when it comes to his corporate partnerships, which The Lighthaus looks after.

“I have never thought that her sex has given her an advantage or disadvantage. I have known Lucy for over 10 years. We do not just have a working relationship, we are really close friends,” Goodes said.

“Which I think makes our partnership unique, but also makes a great working environment.”

And Prendergast says more of those relationships are likely to develop.

“The accredited female agents are clearly demonstrating they are adding value to the industry,” Mr Prendergast said.