Corey Oates
Corey Oates (born 20 October 1994) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as er for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. Oates has played for Queensland in the State of Origin series. He is the only remaining player from the Broncos 2015 grand final side. Background. Oates was born in Biloela, Queensland, Australia but was raised in the small town of Baralaba. He played his junior football for the Baralaba Panthers and attended St Brendan's College in Yeppoon before being signed by the Brisbane Broncos. Playing career. Early career. Oates played for the Brisbane  Broncos NYC team in 2012–2013. On 21 April 2012, Oates represented the Queensland Under 20s team against the New South Wales Under 20s, playing off the interchange bench in the 18–14 loss at Penrith Stadium. In 2013 he continued playing for the Brisbane Broncos in the under 20s and again represented the Queensland under 20s. In Round 17 of the 2013 NRL season, Oates made his NRL debut for the Brisbane Broncos against the Melbourne Storm, coming off the interchange bench in Brisbane's 32–0 loss at AAMI Park. In his next match, in Round 18 against the Cronulla-Sutherland  Sharks at Suncorp Stadium, Oates scored his first NRL career try in Brisbane's 19–18 loss. Oates finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 9 matches and scoring 8 tries for the Brisbane club in the 2013 NRL season. Oates was named the 2013 Brisbane Broncos season's rookie of the year. On 27 August 2013, Oates was named at second-row in the 2013 NYC team of the year. 2014. Oates missed the first two matches of the season with a knee injury, returning in Round 3 against the Sydney Roosters, playing off the interchange  bench in the 30–26 loss at Suncorp Stadium. On 18 July 2014, Oates was demoted to the Queensland Cup along with Jack Reed and Daniel Vidot by coach Anthony Griffin after breaching team protocol with a mid-week boozing session. Oates returned a week later in Round 20 against the Melbourne Storm, playing off the interchange bench in the 30–8 loss at Suncorp Stadium. Oates finished the 2014 NRL season with him playing in 20 matches and scoring 5 tries. On 9 October 2014, Oates extended his contract with the Brisbane club, keeping him at the club until the end  of the 2017 season. 2015. In Round 9 against the Penrith Panthers, Oates scored the winning try with two minutes to go in Brisbane's 8–5 win at Suncorp Stadium. In Round 25, Oates scored a 95-metre try against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, fending off an attempted tackle from Dylan Walker in doing so in the 47–12 win at Sydney Football Stadium. Leading into Brisbane's 2015 finals campaign, Oates would edge out Lachlan Maranta for the left wing spot after spending most of the season reverting from the wing to the interchange bench. On 4 October 2015, Oates  played 2015 NRL Grand Final against the North Queensland Cowboys, starting on the wing and scoring the first try of the match but later made a crucial defensive error on the final siren by running off his wing to tackle Michael Morgan with the ball who flicked the ball to the unmarked Kyle Feldt to tie up the scores at 16-16 all to send the match into golden point and Brisbane painfully lost 17-16 after North Queensland legend Johnathan Thurston kicked the premiership sealing field goal. Oates finished the 2015 NRL season with him playing in 25 matches  and scoring 14 tries. 2016. On 12 January 2016, Oates was selected in the QAS Emerging Maroons squad. In February 2016, Oates was named in the Broncos 2016 NRL Auckland Nines squad, but was later ruled out. In Round 7 against the Newcastle Knights, Oates scored his first career hat trick of tries in Brisbane's smashing 53–0 win at Suncorp Stadium. After showing some great try scoring form in the early rounds, Oates earn himself a wing spot for Queensland in the 2016 State of Origin series. On 1 June 2016 Oates made his debut for Queensland in Game  1, on the wing in the Maroons low scoring 6–4 win at ANZ Stadium. In Game 2 of the series, Oates scored his first try for the Maroons in the series winning 26–16 victory at Suncorp Stadium. Oates finished the 2016 NRL season as Brisbane's highest tryscorer with 18 tries in 22 matches. On 20 September 2016, Oates was added to the Australia Kangaroos 2016 Four Nations train-on squad but later make the final 24-man squad. 2017. On 9 March 2017, Oates extended his contract with Brisbane to the end the 2018 NRL season. After another solid  start to the season, Oates was selected for Queensland on the wing for Game 1 of the 2017 State of Origin series, scoring the Maroons only try in the shock 28–4 loss against New South Wales at Suncorp Stadium. Despite being the lone try scorer for Queensland, Oates was axed from the team for Game 2 in favour of Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks flyer Valentine Holmes in one of many omissions from the Maroons team. In late June 2017, Oates was hospitalised with a staph infection that was affecting his lower body and was sidelined for six weeks. Oates later made  his return in Round 22 in the local derby match against the Gold Coast Titans, scoring a try in the 54-0 smashing win at Robina Stadium. In Brisbane's do-or-die semifinal match against the Penrith Panthers, After scoring a try early in the match, Oates was on the receiving end of a sickening head clash by an accidental shoulder by teammate Anthony Milford and was knocked unconscious while they attempted to stop an attacking raid close to their tryline in the Broncos hard-fought 13–6 victory at Suncorp Stadium. After suffering the heavy knock, Oates was later  cleared of concussion and played in Brisbane's disappointing season-ending 30-0 preliminary finals loss against the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park. Oates finished the 2017 NRL season with him playing in 21 matches and scoring 15 tries for Brisbane. 2018. Before the start of the season, Oates made a request to switch from the wing to second-row due to his bigger frame being more suited to the forwards. In March 2018, Oates who was off contract at the end of the year, attracted the attention of North Queensland and South Sydney for his signature and a promise  of a permanent place in the forwards. In Round 3 against the Wests Tigers, Oates played his 100th NRL career match in Brisbane's 9–7 win at Campbelltown Stadium. Oates returned to State of Origin arena for game 3 after captain Greg Inglis was ruled out injured, playing on the wing in the 18–12 victory for Queensland. In Round 25 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Oates scored four tries in the 48–16 win at Suncorp Stadium. Oates finished the 2018 NRL season with him playing in 23 matches and being the club's highest tryscorer with 18 tries. On  4 December 2018, Oates agreed to a one-year extension to stay with Brisbane for the 2019 season after many months of speculation of where he would go beyond the end of the year. 2019. Oates made 22 appearances for Brisbane in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Oates played in the club's elimination final against Parramatta which Brisbane lost 58–0 at the new Western Sydney Stadium. The defeat was the worst in Brisbane's history and also the biggest finals defeat in history. Oates finished the year  as the club's top try scorer with 13 tries. 2020. Oates played 14 games for Brisbane in the 2020 NRL season as the club finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon for the first time in their history. 2021. Oates played 14 games for Brisbane in the 2021 NRL season scoring four tries as the club missed the finals. 2022. In round 5 of the 2022 NRL season, Oates scored a hat-trick for Brisbane in their 24-20 loss to the Sydney Roosters.