SEN footy analyst Terry Wallace says Ned Guy’s appointment as Collingwood list manager opens the door to speculation star Crow Rory Sloane could join the club.

Despite having a year to run on his contract, the rumour mill is abuzz with news Sloane could be open to a return to Melbourne.

“It’s just interesting that all of a sudden that Ned Guy, who managed Rory Sloane, who is 12 months away from becoming a free agent, is going to the Collingwood Football Club,” Wallace told SEN’s Hungry for Sport.

“I just love conspiracy theories.

“You’d think that if Sloane was looking at a return to Melbourne then that return would be made more comfortable with people he knows rather than people he doesn’t know.”

Crows head of football Brett Burton knocked any talk of a Sloane move on the head, suggesting such talk was just “part of the silly season.”

But Wallace believes Guy’s appointment creates another layer to the story.

“The bloke who has managed him, looked after him and been the connection to his family the whole way through is now at Collingwood, then it has to count for something,” he said.

“We saw a lot of players who had a connection to Stephen Silvagni ended up at Carlton.

“Watch this space.”

The 27-year-old Sloane has played 165 games and is coming off his best season since debuting in 2009. The hard-working midfielder kicked a career-high 20 goals and averaged 24 disposals.