ALONG with a surfboard or a blender, the other important item on Rory Sloane's Christmas wish list is getting the AFL back to the negotiating table on a new pay deal.

"The AFL are very clear on where we stand as players and hopefully negotiations start up soon," the gun Adelaide midfielder told reporters on Tuesday.

"We're waiting on them.

"We've positioned our deal to them, one that is a percentage-share model, which we think is quite fair."

The AFL Players' Association and the AFL couldn't come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement during a meeting in Torquay earlier this month.

The All Australian vice-captain believed a strike during the JLT Community Series is a "fair few steps away".

"Fans don't want that as an outcome, but we will do what needs to be done and we will hopefully get it done soon," Sloane said.

Sloane and the entire Crows squad were at the Women's and Children's Hospital in North Adelaide spreading some Christmas cheer.

What would please Crows fans next year is seeing the emergence of a couple of midfielders to give Sloane some assistance.

"As you saw with our SANFL team, guys like Cam Ellis-Yolmen, Wayne Milera, these guys are really keen to take that step up to the next level," Sloane said.

"And you saw a little taste of Brad Crouch and Matt Crouch and what they can do.

"We've got a lot of depth to run through the midfield.

"As we've always said, we've never relied on one guy to get it done in there, we've always had guys chipping in."

As for what Sloane wants to find under the Christmas tree, it's a present difficult to wrap.

"My stock standard answer is a new surfboard, but this year I said a blender," he said.