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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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