Curnow would have been the obvious choice to tag Sloane in tomorrow’s AFL match at the MCG.

The Crows onballer has struggled in the past few weeks and it is now a given that the opposition will try to put heat on him.

Former Crow Sam Kerridge – who often performed run-with roles in his Adelaide days – is among the inclusions for the match against his old team, and could be handed the job on his former teammate.

But Blues coach Brendon Bolton was giving nothing away about what they might have planned.

“We’ll have to wait and see how that one unfolds,” Bolton said.

“We have to make some decisions in and around that, but what we do know is [Sloane’s] a really quality player.

“He’s a hard-running, tough inside and outside mid, so you have to respect him.”

Curnow is one of six Blues omissions after he suffered a hit to the throat.

While Bolton saw the funny side of Curnow finding it tough to talk, the Carlton coach added they had to be careful with managing the onballer’s bruised larynx.

“Without dismissing the seriousness of it, because he will be missing this week, it would be hard to keep a Curnow quiet, I would have thought,” Bolton said.

“It’s hard to say at this stage – it could be more (games out).

“We just have to see how it settles, because it’s quite unusual being hit in the throat like that.”

Jed Lamb is out because of concussion and Sam Petrevski-Seton is being managed.

The Blues also dropped Billie Smedts, Jarrod Pickett and Blaine Boekhorst.

“We hold incredibly high standards in terms of performance – it’s no broader or less than that,” Bolton said.

One of the inclusions is Irishman Ciaran Sheehan, who will play his first senior game in three years.

“It’s a great story of perseverance and resilience, coming from Ireland and suffering quite a few little injuries,” Bolton said.

“So here’s his chance – he’s taken some real steps forward in the VFL this year.”

While the Crows will start warm favourites, they suffered a shock loss to Hawthorn last week and the Blues also upset GWS only two weekends ago.

“Every game just shows that mindset is really critical, because teams can be one or two per cent off and get hurt,” Bolton said.

“We thought defensively we could have improved on last week and we challenged that seriously.

“We’d be looking forward to some improved performances around something that’s been a real strength of ours, which is our ability to defend.”

-AAP