Max Gawn says the footy world needs to grow up with the handling of players being traded after Melbourne stars Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver departed the club.

It came as part of a major shake up under recently installed coach Steven King as the Demons move into a new era, with around half of Melbourne’s 2021 premiership side gone.

But Gawn acknowledged all things must pass when asked if he tried to convince Petracca and Oliver to stay.

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“I think you’ve just got to grow up a little bit in the world of footy, it’s not a forever thing,” the Demons skipper said on Triple M Rush Hour with JB & Billy.

“We had this group of players that had been together for a long time and externally other clubs didn’t have that. We’re quite the minority.

“It was always going to come to an end and we’ve had premiership players that moved on — Luke Jackson, James Harmes, James Jordon — these sort of guys.

“We’re still very close to them. I’m still very close to ‘Harmesy’, I still talk to Luke Jackson most days.”

Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca have been traded (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

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Gawn thinks Oliver can flourish with a “fresh start” at GWS and was hoping to see the midfielder win a Brownlow Medal.

“Clayton is probably the definition of wanting a fresh start,” the star ruckman said.

“If you looked at Clayton Oliver, and I’m as close to him as anyone, you go: ‘Jeez, a fresh start would be nice to him.’

“I didn’t think about it when I first, when it first got pitched to me. And then you sit there for a while and go: ‘You know, what a fresh start would be pretty good for ‘Claz’.

“So that I’m really excited for.

“I hope we win it, but I hope ‘Clary’ is sitting there Brownlow Medal night with a Brownlow around his neck and he changes his luck around as much as that. I’ll be his number one supporter.”

While the Dees will pay a portion of Oliver’s salary at the Giants and they only received a third-round pick back in the trade, Petracca’s move to Gold Coast saw Melbourne land the No.7 and 8 overall draft picks.

“Trac’s (Petracca) a star and we would have loved to keep him, but we were able to get a pretty good deal, which three first round picks — a Jeremy Cameron, Charlie Curnow-esque type deal — including two under 10,” Gawn added.

“It’s a really good deal for both parties.”

Charlie Spargo and Judd McVee also departed Melbourne during the trade period, while the club brought in Jack Steele, Brody Mihocek, Changkuoth Jiath and Max Heath.