ADELAIDE superstar Erin Phillips is close to a return to full training, having undergone knee surgery in the off-season.

The 36-year-old was mainly restricted to the goalsquare in the latter part of the 2021 NAB AFLW season, hampered by a then-unspecified knee complaint.

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"Round five, I had a piece of cartilage come off the back of my knee. I finally had that taken out and cleaned up. A bit of an oil change, I call it," Phillips told afc.com.au.

"I'm feeling really good, running really well and hopefully we'll be out on the track and in full training in a couple of weeks."

The Crows finished the home-and-away season strongly, thumping the Western Bulldogs and knocking off fellow contender Collingwood to finish first, but lost the Grand Final to Brisbane by three goals.

"Let it hurt. Let it absolutely burn them and drive them, I say. It's not something we want to forget about, it's something we want to learn from," Phillips said.

"You wish you could go back and play those games again, but you can take some really good lessons from your disappointments.

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"I didn’t want to finish the season like that, obviously having an injury and then losing a Grand Final. I still feel like I can give more to this team and club. 

"Really, really disappointed, but I know the drive and kick in the backside for everyone, the 'let's go with this', is what we have to do. We know how to get there and now we have to finish it off."

Veteran defender Ange Foley was acting captain for the Grand Final after Chelsea Randall was ruled out with concussion, but it turned into a dirty day for the inaugural Crow after she ruptured her left ACL.

She has already been placed on the inactive list for the 2022 season, giving her as much time as possible to recuperate ahead of 2023.

"I'm six months down the track of rehab, the break was perfect timing, I had a chance to gather my thoughts, get my knee really strong and perfect coming into pre-season," Foley said.

"At the moment, I'm out on the track and doing a fair bit of running, starting to change direction and going to start integrating into some drills with the girls, which is probably the thing I'm looking forward to the most."

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Adelaide has also appointed retired AFL journeyman Jack Hombsch as AFLW head of development, a new role at the club.

The 28-year-old has plenty of experience in the AFL system, having been an inaugural Giant before playing at Port Adelaide and Gold Coast.

He will work with both the club's AFLW players and its women's NGA.