PAUL Roos says Bernie Vince has been outstanding for Melbourne and has been a great acquisition since joining from the Adelaide Crows at the end of the 2014.

Roos said the reigning best and fairest winner, who will take on his former team at the MCG on Sunday, had been “terrific” for the club.

“I don’t think they (Adelaide) didn’t necessarily see him as a good player – he’s been a best and fairest winner over there,” he said.

“He was really popular with his [Adelaide] teammates, and the club and the fans, but we were in the fortunate position that we were able to get him.

“I can’t speak highly enough [of him]. He’s been exceptional and had another terrific year and won the best and fairest last year. He finished third the year before and is having another terrific year this year.”

Meanwhile, Roos said the club was close to playing defender Josh Wagner (knee) this weekend, but didn’t want to risk him.

“He’s a young player – even though he’s a mature-age recruit – but it’s still his first year of AFL footy,” he said.

“We could’ve pushed him to play, but he’s been getting an injection for the last three or four weeks and at some point, we just felt with the bye – we wanted to see how he went.

“It’s not quite up to the level of playing pain free, so we’ll give him another week off and we think he should be right by next week.”