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Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks says he may have erred by tinkering with the role of his fearless AFL captain Rory Sloane.

It's an AFL equivalent of shooting Bambi: criticising Adelaide's universally-admired captain Rory Sloane.

But Crows coach Matthew Nicks is shouldering some of the blame for recent queries about his fearless skipper.

Sloane will lead the Crows against West Coast at Adelaide Oval on Sunday after a patch of indifferent form.

The midfielder has delayed surgery on his left ring finger to fix a flexor tendon rupture suffered in a June 27 game.

And his output, by pure statistics, remains solid: he's averaging 22 disposals a match this season.

But Nicks concedes recent tinkering with Sloane's role - from his renowned midfield pack work to more of an outside running role - has diminished his impact.

"I know he gets judged on what we see on the tv screen - but there's a lot more to the game than that," Nicks said.

"We have asked him to adjust his role slightly.

"Have we taken him away from the midfield a little too much?

"It's something I put my hand up as a coach and say maybe it might be better for him to get him back in a little bit more.

"He is a barometer for us in there (the midfield), when we are going well, he's diving on balls and he's making tackles."

Nicks said he would give Sloane more midfield time against the Eagles.

"I understand the outside perception of what people are seeing but we will get him back inside a little bit more this week and hopefully it can show him at his best," he said.

Both Sloane's 16th-placed Crows and the seventh-placed Eagles are seeking to rediscover form in a fixture marking the 200th AFL games of Eagles ruckman Nic Naitanui and Adelaide defender Brodie Smith.

The Crows have lost five of their past six games while West Coast are in a three-game losing slump.

The Eagles will debut mid-season draftee Connor West, 22, as coach Adam Simpson pledges to examine the depth of his squad.

"Getting some youth into the side the next four or five weeks, see what they've got, and back them in a little bit more and give them some time," Simpson said.