Broncos coach Kevin Walters has refused to draw a line through fan favourite Corey Oates’ career at the club, but the man himself concedes he has 80 minutes to prove he still belongs in the NRL.
Thursday night could be the veteran winger’s final outing for Brisbane, after the 29-year-old confirmed on radio he was unlikely to receive a contract offer for next year.
Oates has long said he could not see himself playing for another outfit after his 215 games as a Bronco made him the club’s third-highest try scorer, but was hopeful of using the forthcoming clash with the Storm to prove he still belonged at Red Hill.
While he said he would “never say no” to other offers, ultimately his decisions would depend on what was best for his family.
“They haven’t come forward with an offer yet, and they’ve said they probably won’t,” Oates told Robin and Kip on KIIS 97.3.
“But I’m still hopeful I can change people’s minds pretty easily. I’ve got to go out there and perform the way I know I can, and hopefully give it that one small chance at the dice.
“When you’re young you come through, and it’s always about you … but when you’re older and get married and have kids, life changes; the reasons why you do life changes, and the people in your life change your decisions and the reasons why you make your decisions.
“It isn’t just me I’m out there playing for any more.”
Countless surgeries throughout his career have seemingly taken a toll on Oates, and he has been kept to just 23 games in the past two seasons as Selwyn Cobbo, Jesse Arthars, Deine Mariner and Josiah Karapani have jumped over him in the outside-back pecking order.
Oates’ potential farewell game comes after Kotoni Staggs was ruled out to nurse a quad strain, and will be joined in the casualty ward by Payne Haas, whom Broncos coach Kevin Walters confirmed would go in for foot surgery on Tuesday.
But when asked if this would be a swan song for Oates, Walters said that was not necessarily the case.
“I’m not sure about a farewell game, but he’s in the last game of the year here, and it’s good to see him back,” Walters said.
“He’s been a great player for the club – particularly tomorrow night I think, with the way the Storm play he’ll be great for us out of yardage, and nice and strong in defence.
“That [whether he will be here next year] is something for post-game; we still haven’t sorted our roster for next year across the board.
“Oatsey’s keen, it’s the best he’s felt in a month, so we’re looking forward to watching him do his stuff.”
Sydney Morning Herald
