GOLD Coast is expecting a decision from injured forward Izak Rankine "reasonably quickly" after the Suns brought their season to a close with a 67-point triumph over North Melbourne.

The uncontracted South Australian has been offered a lucrative deal from Adelaide, but missed the final round due to shoulder surgery.

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"It's going to be a decision to make, and it's probably going to happen reasonably quickly now that we've finished," Suns coach Stuart Dew said.

"He's going in for surgery this year, a significant shoulder injury he did three or four weeks ago, I think. He was touch and go for the next game, played and played well, had a couple of incidents at training and we've probably been weighing it up for a number of weeks.

"We've been aware of the situation, so I think both parties got to a point where we thought two or three incidents for a young lad, regardless of what's happening or not happening, it was time to get that fixed.

"We'd love to have Izak, but what we have worked on, and certainly in my time here, is de-individualising the club. And that's not directed at Izak, that's directed at how do we build a team that's resilient enough that if players miss through suspension or injury, that players can step in and cover. I think we're starting to see that."

Despite finishing the year with an equal club-high 10 wins and a significantly healthier percentage of 102.8 (compared to 76.8 last year), Dew maintains the club has unfinished business.

"We have to chase improvement. We think our group have the right attitude for that as we mature naturally, but there's also a part we can really force the issue," Dew said.

"It feels like our guys have a bit left in the tank unfortunately, and we'll watch on at the business end of the year that we want to be at.

"We framed the week around getting this done in terms of next year, rather than getting it done in terms of this year. Same thing, but we certainly think it's forward thinking."

North Melbourne interim coach Leigh Adams finished the last of his six-game stint with a heavy loss before handing over to Alastair Clarkson, but loved the opportunity at the top level.

Adams – who has now been a senior coach at local, VFL and AFL level – is keen to remain at the club he played for, but his future now lies in the hands of Clarkson.

"Up until three hours ago, I loved it. No, I really have enjoyed the experience, I can't thank the club enough for the opportunity they've given me to lead the club. I've loved being able to help try and get this footy club going in the right direction," he said.

"Has it done much? Hopefully it's done a little bit, but I've got such a passion for this footy club, I've spent 15 years here and basically grown up here, and I love it and want us to get back to finals as quick as possible.

"I'm not sure (about his timeframe). We'll exit our players Monday and Tuesday this week, and then from there, it's basically up to 'Clarko' what he's thinking in terms of what he wants to do with his staff.

"We'd hope (to know) sooner rather than later, we'd love to sit down and have a conversation with him so our coaches can get some clarity on where they're at, because it's a really uncertain time for staff at our footy club.

"If he wants input from me (on the list), I'm more than happy to, and we'll sit down and have a conversation about what my role looks like going forward. If he thinks it's with the footy club, I'd love it to be with the footy club."

Adams dodged a question about whether the club needs a priority pick, putting that discussion firmly on the shoulders of Clarkson, but spoke about the areas of improvement needed for the wooden spooners.

"The three big things for me are our fundamentals – our ability to kick, mark and handball, ground ball, that stuff needs to go to a new level if we want to be a good football club," Adams said.

"From there, our ability to transition both ways, we're probably not fit enough at the moment, and that probably comes a little bit to the demographic of our list, we've got a really young list that haven't had a lot of pre-seasons under their belt.

"And then our transition to defend when the ball is live, when the ball is slowed down we get into good positions – you see guys like Ben McKay come off and intercept the ball – but transition and your live defence are linked together."