Manly warhorse Matt Ballin has slammed reports he'll be the next senior player to be shown the door as the club continues to deal with the fallout from the departure of Daly Cherry-Evans to the Gold Coast.
It was reported over the weekend that the Sea Eagles were interested in chasing Brisbane hooker Andrew McCullough to replace 31-year-old Ballin, who is off contract at the end of the season.
On Monday, the former Queensland State of Origin representative was confident those reports are wide of the mark and he won't be joining Cherry-Evans in exiting Brookvale at year's end.
"As far as I know, the story was a beat up. I don't know who started it but I don't think it's a very reputable thing to do by the person responsible," Ballin said.
"I spoke to Joe Kelly not long after the story came out and he assured me that it wasn't right.
"It's sad to see these things come out. Fair enough, there's going to be talk about players futures but there's no due diligence done, there's no responsibility taken.
"Accountability should be taken by those people who write those stories that aren't true so I just think it's ridiculous."
Ballin refused to speculate on the source of the rumour.
"Obviously something's going on behind the scenes and people have an agenda," he said.
"I don't know who it is and I can't say who it is because it wouldn't be responsible of me to say.
"But I think people that put things in papers should be accountable for what's in there and they should have a solid source."
A veteran of almost 200 first-grade games since making his debut in 2007, Ballin says he's getting closer to inking a new deal with Manly that will likely allow him to finish his career as a one-club player.
"I've been in negotiations with Manly for quite some time and it's going really well," he said.
"These things take time but I'm really happy with the progress that's been made and I think the club's happy, it's just down to the fine details."
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