MINING magnate Kevin Maloney may help Queensland secure rugby league convert Mark Gasnier with a third-party sponsorship.
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However, the Reds are in real danger of losing star five-eighth Quade Cooper to Western Force.
Gasnier, who is coming off contract at French club Stade Francais, is being chased by the Reds and Super 15 expansion franchise Melbourne Rebels.
Maloney had backed the VicSuper15 consortium which was provisionally offered the Melbourne licence, but withdrew after a disagreement with the ARU on the ownership model.
The licence went to the bid headed by media magnate Harold Mitchell instead.
Maloney's company The Mac Services Group does a lot of business in the Queensland mining industry and he has already lent his financial support to the Reds' coaching staff headed by Ewen McKenzie.
There is speculation Maloney will provide Gasnier with a third-party endorsement if he agrees to play club rugby for Southern Districts in Sydney.
"One of my companies which is based in Queensland has a small sponsorship with the Reds," Maloney said.
"If I was asked to provide a third-party deal (for Gasnier), I probably would.
"I'm tied up with Southern Districts and Mark Gasnier (a former St George Illawarra Dragon NRL star) comes from that area.
"If he wanted to play a few games down there, I'd look at it. If not, I wouldn't enter into it."
Maloney also revealed he would consider becoming a private owner of the financially-troubled Reds, who have been bailed out by the ARU.
But he did not think the Reds were ready to embrace a private ownership model.
"I looked at that with Melbourne," he said.
"It was hard to get there and I lost interest.
"The ARU has a desire to privatise all of the franchises, but I don't think it's on top of the QRU's agenda.
"They have a very good chairman in Rod McCall, who will get them back on the right track.
"It's like any investment, you look at the structure and who's involved. John O'Neill (ARU chief executive) recently said investing in a rugby union team was like going to the races, but you can't find anything more speculative than the mining industry."
Meanwhile, there was strong speculation yesterday that Cooper would leave the Reds to join his close friends David Pocock and James O'Connor at the Force.
Cooper's management said he would not make a decision on his future until he had renegotiated his contract with the ARU, which will delay offering him a top-up until after his court case on a burglary charge is heard in July.
He is also considering a lucrative offer from a leading French club.
Pocock and O'Connor are believed to be urging Western Force to sign Cooper, who would solve its five-eighth problem.
When Wallabies five-eighth Matt Giteau left Perth to return home to Canberra this year, the Force recruited South African Andre Pretorius and when he broke down they picked up New Zealander David Hill.
With Cooper at five-eighth, the Force could sign a foreign hooker, which is an area of need for the team.
The winless Force will be boosted by the return of Pocock (finger injury) and prop Matt Dunning (concussion) for its match with the Stormers in Perth on Friday night, while outside back Scott Staniforth has been given a clearance to play the rest of the season after completing a short-term contract.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...-reds-gains-legs/story-e6frg7ox-1225847702295
