Former Melbourne coach Paul Roos said the Demons were close to receiving GWS star Toby Greene in a trade deal back in 2013.

Roos said the Giants were happy to part ways with Greene for almost nothing at the end of that season, offering him up in potential trade deals to any possible suitors.

Back in 2013, Melbourne sent the Giants pick 2 (Josh Kelly), 20 and 72 and received Dom Tyson, pick 9 (Christian Salem) and pick 53 from the expansion club, although Roos said Greene could have easily been included in the deal.

“Two or three years ago, you could have gotten him for a bag of chips,” Roos told Fox Footy’s League Teams on Thursday night.

“When we did the Dom Tyson and Josh Kelly (trade), they were handing him out.”

Since then, the 23-year-old has turned himself into one of the game's best small forwards, and has already booted 17 goals from five matches so far this season.

Roos also commented on the importance of Greene in the Giants' side, saying they can't afford to have him suspended at all this season, following his close call after headbutting Sydney's Isaac Heeney last Saturday night.

“What I liked this week was Leon Cameron coming out and saying that some of the things he’s doing are unacceptable,” Roos said.

“You look at Jesse Hogan and Jordan Lewis — that really hurts your footy team — and they can’t afford to lose him. He’s that type of player.

“He really makes that forward line function. He gets to such dangerous spots and opens it up for the bigs. Sometimes he doesn’t get used, but he runs so hard.”