Gold Coast Suns Delist Pregnant AFLW Player Clayden
Gold Coast will not offer 2027 contracts to Georgia Clayden or Sienna McMullen, with Clayden due to give birth within weeks.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Pregnancy
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The Gold Coast Suns have delisted AFLW player Georgia Clayden, who spent the 2026 season on the inactive list while pregnant. The club also informed Sienna McMullen she would not be offered a contract for the 2027 season.
Why it matters
The decision highlights the difficult list-management choices AFLW clubs face given limited list spots, and renews debate over how clubs treat players who take leave for pregnancy. It comes as the rules allowing returning players to come off the inactive list at any point remain part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, players returning from pregnancy may come off the inactive list at any point, but must be assessed as medically fit by a club doctor or AFL medical officer. Clubs may carry 31 players for the remainder of a season when a replacement is signed, and the stub does not say how many replacements were signed in this case.
The players
Gold Coast Suns
An Australian Football League club based on the Gold Coast that fields teams in the AFL and AFLW competitions.
Georgia Clayden
An AFLW player for the Gold Coast Suns who was placed on the inactive list during her pregnancy and delisted by the club.
Carlton
An AFL club that told Kerryn Peterson in December 2025 that she would not be offered a 2026 contract.
The details
Clayden spent the 2026 season on the inactive list with a pregnancy-related injury, and the club announced on Tuesday that she and McMullen would not be offered 2027 contracts. Clayden was due to give birth within weeks of the announcement, and the decision follows similar cases, including Carlton's December 2025 decision not to offer Kerryn Peterson a 2026 contract.
Timeline
December 2025: Carlton told Kerryn Peterson she would not be offered a contract for 2026.
August 2026: Kerryn Peterson gave birth to her son Max.
10 November 2026: Gold Coast announced Clayden and McMullen would not receive 2027 contracts.
Roadmap
The Gold Coast decision sits against the Collective Bargaining Agreement rules that let pregnant players return from the inactive list at any point, provided they are medically cleared. It follows Carlton's similar treatment of Kerryn Peterson, suggesting the tension between those protections and tight AFLW list spots is a recurring pattern rather than a one-off.
Pregnant players and those planning families may face uncertainty about contract security while on the inactive list. Clubs' list-management choices can directly determine whether a player keeps her place when she returns from pregnancy.
The takeaway
Clear, consistent club policies on pregnancy-related leave matter for every player weighing a family against a career. Readers following the issue can watch whether clubs revisit how they handle contracts during inactive-list periods.
Further reading
For more on the family side of this issue, see our Pregnancy coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
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Should AFLW clubs be required to keep players who become mothers on their lists?
