ADELAIDE'S Michael Doughty knows what he'll do once his AFL career is done, but he says it's dangerous to think Friday night's semi-final against Fremantle could mark the end of his playing days.

After the Crows lost last weekend's qualifying final to the Sydney Swans by 29 points, Friday looms as a possible curtain call to the Adelaide veteran's career.

Failure would see the start of the Crows' pre-season, but for Doughty it would mean the beginning of a new chapter.

The 33-year-old will take a job in player management later this year with Elite Sports Properties (ESP) in South Australia.

Doughty believes thinking of Friday night's contest as his last would see him lose focus on the task at hand.

"I'm not big on reflection, I like to move on," he said.

"Once you start thinking about the past you lose your concentration on what your job is next week.

"I've always been a player who's looked forward to whatever job that is. I think that's when I play my best footy, when I know I've got a role … it brings the best out of me."

Doughty didn't rule out pursuing a career in coaching at some point, but said player management would allow him to remain in football while developing his mentoring skills.

"It (player management) still keeps me involved in football, but without the daily grind and the weekend grind of preparing for teams," Doughty said.

"This still keeps me involved in the game, help young players at the start of their careers and develop off the field, I think it's something I really enjoy doing."

When the defender announced his retirement in August, he said he wanted to go out on a high.

With Adelaide proving too good for Fremantle on both occasions this season, Doughty said he had real confidence the dream of ultimate success would stay alive for another week.

Doughty said there was no secret as to why the Crows had comfortably won both encounters with the West Australian side this season.

"Every time we've played Freo we've been able to use the ball really well going forward and just making the right decisions," he said.

"Last week we let ourselves down, we got hold of the ball [but] we weren't able to penetrate deep inside 50 with good method.

"If everyone played their role last week, we probably would have got over the line.

"I think the weight's lifted off the blokes' shoulders this week. They've looked up and about … and we'll know Friday night definitely in the first 15 minutes by the way we attack the footy."

Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry