Sanderson praised Sloane's ability to stand up and be counted in pressure situations, singling out his second-half performance last weekend against North Melbourne as a prime example.
The 24-year-old amassed 17 second-half possessions to finish with 28, plus eight tackles and two goals in the narrow nine-point win.
It was arguably the best performance of his career and the type of game that defined leadership.
"[Some] players are naturals when it comes to leading a group and he's certainly one of those," Sanderson said.
Sloane's recent form has been nothing short of inspiring.
He collected 27 disposals in the side's stirring two-point win over Geelong in round 17, and the following week against Fremantle, while the side lost, Sloane was a standout with 30 touches, seven marks and seven tackles.
But the crowd favourite admitted to afl.com.au he felt he had let his teammates down midway through the season for not consistently 'Pied Pipering' them to victory.
The Crows lost five of their six games from rounds 10-16, two by less than 10 points and a third, against Collingwood in round 16 after trailing by just 13 points at the final change.
In that period the club fell from seventh on the ladder after round nine, to 11th after round 16.
"I think that's what makes a good leader; guys who can stand up in pressure situations and when a team needs you the most, your leaders are the ones who perform," Sloane said.
"I started well and dropped off in the middle part of the year, which is disappointing because that's when we lost a few key games that probably could have helped us make finals.
"That was something I was a bit disappointed with myself.
"As a leader of the club you really want to step up in those sorts of games.
"The last month of footy I've just tried to help the team as much as I can, you want to play good footy and give ourselves every chance to finish strong."
He'll have a clear run at helping the Crows finish strongly after recovering well from laser eye surgery following his torn retina suffered against Fremantle in round 18.
Sloane missed a week as he recovered from the procedure and said that, while there had been no complications since, the feeling of lasers buzzing around his eyes was an experience he'll remember for a while yet.
"It was a bit blurry out of one eye and I went to a specialist just to get a check up – I thought I might need some eye drops or something," he said.
"In the end he said I had a torn retina and that required some laser surgery, so I got that done on the Tuesday after the Freo game.
"Your eye is pressed up against this machine – some lasers feel like they're hitting the back of your brain and some feel fine.
"Maybe I'm just a bit of a sook, but it was an uncomfortable feeling."
Twitter: @AFL_Harry
