Adelaide's AFL stalwart Michael Doughty says he isn't the sentimental type.

Doughty will retire at the end of Adelaide's season - which could be Friday night's knockout semi-final against Fremantle.

"It is not something that has ever come into my mind," Doughty said.

"We have got a job to do this week.

"Until that last quarter when you're either up by too much and know you're going to play next week, or you're down and can't catch them, it's not going to come into my mind.

"I'm not big on reflection, I'm a player that likes to move on.

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

"So I have always been a player that has looked forward to whatever job that is and I think that is when I play my best footy."

Doughty, a 229-game veteran, announced his pending retirement last month.

"It's a bit of a weight off your shoulders, you don't have to answer questions or say you're not sure what you're doing - when you know you are," he said.

"To get the opportunity this year when I could have retired last year after a very poor year by the club, it's just good to get that opportunity."

Adelaide slipped to a 29-point qualifying final defeat to Sydney last weekend but the 33-year-old Doughty was confident of rebounding against the Dockers at AAMI Stadium.

"We have played Freo twice (this season) and we have beaten them," he said.

"We probably didn't play as well as we would have liked last week, some players were down. But when you look at it, we still had opportunities to win.

"Finals are not as hard as you would think, you have just got play your role and do your bit for the team.

"Our footy stands up to most teams - it's contested ball, you have got to win your fair share, and what we didn't do last week was use the ball well.

"Every time we have played Freo we have used the ball really well going forward."