Melbourne Rebels say Mark Gasnier decision close; deny Billy Slater deal

[jargan83]

Melbourne Rebels say Mark Gasnier decision close; deny Billy Slater deal

By Guy Hand and Jim Morton

Melbourne Rebels coach Rod Macqueen denies the fledgling rugby club are chasing Billy Slater, but admits they're closing in on ex-rugby league international Mark Gasnier.

Slater has been linked to the Rebels on a possible $1 million deal as his embattled NRL club Melbourne Storm face the prospect of disbanding a team built by creative accounting.

Australia and State of Origin player Slater is sure to be in demand should stars have to be shed, though Macqueen denies the Storm fullback is in the Rebels' sights.

"It's (speculation about signing Slater) definitely wide of the mark. It's definitely wrong. Especially when things are tough, we gave our assurances early on to the Storm and we still feel the same way,'' Macqueen said.

"We made a point when we came down here that we wouldn't be targeting any of the Storm players in anything we did, and nothing's changed.

"The reality is we've targeted only a certain amount of players (for the Rebels) and I would say the majority of players we've targeted we've got, and there certainly are some players we've spoken to that have wanted to remain with their current franchise.

"We've said from day one we don't want to be enticing people to this franchise with money. It's very important money isn't their motivation to come to the Rebels.''

But one player who could be a Rebels player within a fortnight is ex-St George Illawarra star Gasnier.

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[Burgs]

A three season deal with the Rebels and pick up a Test Cap or two, gaining more value all the time, and then head back North to the Superannuation Leagues, no brainer.

[beige]

Melbourne Rebels coach Rod Macqueen denies the fledgling rugby club are chasing Billy Slater

Well that's the end of that one. For now.

[Burgs]

Unless "Rebels Boss: Billy Slater approached us..."

[beige]

Or "the Storm were forced to release players so they weren't technically Storm players anymore..."

[TOCC]

the Rebels said they wont talk to any storm players without the consent of the Storm..

Basically they wont get in a bidding war with the Storm, but if a player is forced out of the storm then there is nothing to stop the Rebels from approaching him.

[shasta]

I wonder whether some of the deals already made at the Rebels will be under scrutiny. There's probably a big re-think going on already, if they were put together by Waldron without oversight by Rod McQueen & Co. I read that an offerl put to Stephen Hoiles has supposedly been taken off the table well before it's expiry date.

[Burgs]

The public story on that is that as he was showing virtually no interest anyway they pulled it to avoid innuendo and speculation.

[shasta]

they pulled it to avoid innuendo and speculation.

......and caused speculation and innuendo instead.

[beige]

There were some articles this morning that the Rebels had done an internal audit and nothing untoward came out of it. Media seems to be taking their word for it.

[The InnFORCEr]

There were some articles this morning that the Rebels had done an internal audit and nothing untoward came out of it.

Which book was audited

[Sheikh]

TIF - you have a suspicious mind!

[The InnFORCEr]

TIF - you have a suspicious mind!

I've been told my mind is many things, but never suspicious