KEY forward Chris Dawes says Melbourne had to do whatever it took to secure Paul Roos as coach, once it targeted him as its man.



The 2010 Collingwood premiership player said once Melbourne decided Roos was the one to coach the club it had to net the 2005 Sydney Swans premiership coach.



Dawes praised the efforts of Peter Jackson in helping to win Roos, adding that the chief executive was a sharp operator and playing a critical role in starting the revival at the club.



“The Melbourne footy club needed to do whatever it took to get him,” he told melbournefc.com.au.



Dawes, who completed his first season as a Demon in 2013, said he was rapt Roos was board.



But he acknowledged it had been tough to see his first coach at the club, Mark Neeld, go through an arduous period, given he was part of the reason he crossed to Melbourne from Collingwood at the end of the 2012 season.



“Those weeks leading up to him (Neeld) leaving, it was just so hard for the group because of that constant media scrutiny. It took its toll on the group,” Dawes said.



“But anyone who is successful, you may make a decision based on one thing and when things change, you’ve got to be successful and roll with it. In this game and this high performance environment, there’s no time to dwell on those things.”



Dawes said the scrutiny on Neeld and burden it placed on his family was what he felt was most difficult to see.



“I felt for Neeldy and his family, because I thought the media scrutiny was unfair and they were pretty ruthless and he was resilient enough to handle it,” he said.



“But the toll that it has on the family, when they just hear the worst of it, that’s what I hate about the media that’s in footy.



“But we had to get on with it pretty quickly, because there was a lot of work to be done, and I couldn’t waste time worrying about what I couldn’t control.”