Salary-cap pressures mean Broncos will shed
WAYNE Bennett concedes salary-cap pressures will force some players out of the Broncos as winger Corey Oates revealed plans to test his value on the open market.
Brisbane have 16 players off-contract this season, including Oates, who will head into tonight’s clash against Manly in the Suncorp Stadium double-header with his future at Red Hill increasingly uncertain.
He hopes to stay a Bronco, but with the club fighting to stave-off poaching raids for their young guns, Oates can earn more elsewhere, prompting him to explore options.
South Sydney have tabled a $1.5 million deal for Brisbane back-row sensation Jaydn Su’A.
Other off-contract Broncos include NRL regulars Matt Lodge, Tevita Pangai Jr, Korbin Sims, Tom Opacic, Jamayne Isaako and Oates.
Last season, the Broncos lost six players – Ben Hunt, Herman Ese’ese, Tautau Moga, Adam Blair, Benji Marshall and Jai Arrow – to more lucrative offers and Bennett admits others, possibly Oates, could join the exodus.
“It’s not possible for us to keep them all,” Bennett said.
“We have to make some good decisions about who we keep and who we let go.
“I’m confident we’ll keep Corey, but there’s no guarantees.
‘‘We want him to stay here so we’ll try and work out a deal.
“You can’t keep them all. That’s why we’ve had to let players go over the last three or four years, that’s what the salary cap is designed for.’’
Former Maroons winger Oates is in the process of sever- ing ties with his agent, whose current management deal expires in August.
It means Oates is reluctant to sign any new contract until September. The 23-year-old also accepts there is an element of risk remaining a free agent at a time when the NRL finals will be approaching.
A veteran of 105 NRL games, Oates said: “I will start testing myself on the open market.”