DEPARTING Adelaide coach Matthew Clarke made the decision to hang up the whistle at the end of last year.

Adelaide announced on Thursday that the two-time premiership coach would be seeing out his contract in 2025 before stepping down from the role.

Speaking exclusively to AFL.com.au, Clarke said after what will be eight seasons in the role, it was time for a new voice for the mighty Crows AFLW squad.

"It's been something we discussed as a team probably five or six months ago, so it feels a bit funny to be talking about it now, because it's kind of old news internally," Clarke said. 

"Right from the outset, because we had a bit of success pretty early in my coaching tenure, I was mindful that I just needed to keep an eye on the group and what was best for the group – if you have that success early, clubs are less likely to move you on.

"I was mindful of what was best for the team, and ultimately, it landed pretty comfortably when I made the call late last year.

"There's probably some players who have only had me as their coach, which is fine, but if I think about my footy career, I think there's great value in hearing from multiple voices around you, if you're lucky enough to play for a dozen or 15 years.

"We've had a really good period, and without being arrogant, I think I'm pretty decent at the job that I do. But equally, there are others that can give them a different insight and perspective, and take their footy in a different direction.

"I'm also really pumped that I get to have another crack at it as well. We've learned a lot over the last couple of seasons, and hopefully we can put some of that into play in 2025."

Clarke said the unusual public announcement – the first of its kind in AFLW – was driven by the club, rather than a personal choice.

"I think they're mindful of being really open, transparent with it, with our fan and supporter base," Clarke said.

"There's been no secrets around here, it's actually not part of the conversation, we're just getting on with business.

"But I think they were conscious that at some point, it might come out and it might not look great to our supporters, so it was driven mainly by the club and I was really comfortable with whenever the announcement was going to be."

Clarke's wife Ali – a prominent radio presenter in Adelaide – has been public about her recent battle with breast cancer, undergoing a double mastectomy last year. The couple also have three kids.

"Al's in really good health, and everyone's in good shape. So there's no issue on any front, from that perspective," Clarke said.

"AFLW, like all footy, is demanding on you and your family, but AFLW being a shorter season actually has some advantages from a lifestyle point of view. So I might have made a bad call on that front, and end up busier next year with whatever I end up doing.

"I think I'll be forever involved (in football) now, I've sort of been institutionalised. When I stepped away from the men's program (as ruck coach) last year, I freed up some weekends. 

"And guess what I did with that time? I took up coaching the under-12s. It's something I love doing, and I've enjoyed coaching enormously over the last however long it's been."

In terms of the season ahead, Adelaide will be coming off a third consecutive preliminary final appearance, having struggled with converting its opportunities in front of goal in 2024.

"We were in contention again, which is the starting point to get yourself to the pointy end. But ultimately, we were a little bit inefficient going forward. Accuracy was a bit off, and we probably didn't play as good [a standard of] footy at the end as we potentially had at other stages of the year," Clarke said.

"That's one of the things we've reflected on as a football department, and we've made a few tweaks over the off-season as well. We're looking to get it right.

"We feel as though we've added to our squad, that we've got a really dynamic and good squad – although I'm sure every other team probably feels as though they’ve improved their squads as well. There's a wave of talent coming through, which is exciting. But we aim to be around the mark and hopefully do things slightly better this time around."