KEV TALK BREATHES LIFE INTO WINGER
A CANDID conversation with Kevin Walters saved the NRL career of Corey Oates.
And the Broncos winger has repaid his coach’s faith with one of the best footy comeback campaigns in modern memory.
Oates was exiled to the Queensland Cup only 12 months ago and his career was at a crossroads, but it took him a while to notice.
“I have to thank Kevvie,” Oates said last month after his Origin selection. “He just wanted me to be the player I was and the player everyone knew I could be.”
Now he is having the best statistical season of his 10year NRL career, punctuated by a first-half try in Saturday’s crucial win over Newcastle.
It was the 27-year-old’s 19th try in as many games, surpassing the previous high of 18 he set in the 2016 and 2018 seasons.
Oates and fledgling flyer Selwyn Cobbo have a great try-scoring partnership. They
combined for four in the win over Newcastle and have 34 in total.
“Wingers just have to do their job and when the team is playing well and getting to the spots, you just have to put the ball down sometimes,” Oates said.
“This year there have been plenty of them (tries). Everyone is doing their job and I have to do mine (which is) finish off the tries off (attacking) shapes. I’m just enjoying it and getting the rewards is great.”
Learning to enjoy his footy again has been the catalyst for Oates’s resurgence. When the winger was dropped last season, Broncos legend Wally Lewis said he looked like “a lost soul”.
Now he is on the cusp of signing a two-year contract extension and shapes as a pivotal piece for Brisbane as the finals approach.
“The last few weeks (of losing) haven’t been fun,” Oates said. “(But) I’m having fun, I’m enjoying it and that’s what rugby league is.”