Oates tipped for Maroons wing nod

COREY Oates is set to win the battle for a Queensland wing spot despite Test coach Mal Meninga pushing for the Broncos hulk to be axed in favour of Valentine Holmes.

Oates will stave off the Holmes threat if the giant winger produces another impressive display for Brisbane against Wests Tigers tonight.

Oates and Dane Gagai played all three games on the wing for Queensland last year, but the likely return of Billy Slater is set to push Darius Boyd to the left flank that Oates occupied last year.

Queensland’s Origin I side is named on Monday and Meninga says Holmes deserves a debut after edging Oates for a Test spot a fortnight ago. But it is understood Maroons hierarchy will play the loyalty card with Oates, Queensland’s top metre-gainer in Origin III last year, amassing 153m from 14 runs.

Broncos coach Wayne Bennett said Queensland would be foolish to ignore in the code’s toughest arena.

“I can’t get my head around why they wouldn’t pick him (Oates),” Bennett said.

“Incumbency doesn’t always mean a lot but it does with Queensland’s history.

“He was part of a winning series last year and he is playing the best footy he has ever played for us this year consistently. Everyone in the game knows he is hard to tackle.”