Brisbane winger Corey Oates is set to be rewarded for his stellar 2022 campaign, with reports emerging that the Broncos are preparing to offer a contract extension.
It’s a vastly different scenario to this time last year, when the 27-year-old found himself on the outer and playing reserve grade – his time seemingly up at the club he’d made his NRL debut with back in 2013.
But the current NRL season has given us one of the best redemption stories of the year, with Oates not just returning to his previous best but surpassing it. He’s already scored 18 tries this season, matching his personal best hauls from 2016 and 2018 with four regular-season games and finals to come.
Oates is a club veteran – the only player in the current Brisbane side who played in the 2015 NRL Grand Final loss to North Queensland. He’s scored 116 tries in 188 games for the Broncos and has cemented himself as a fan favourite at Red Hill.
While there was talk that Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins had expressed interest in the rangy outside back amid salary cap concerns, agent George Mimis told NewsCorp that Oates wanted to remain a one-club player and was willing to take a pay-cut to do so.
“Corey has spent a decade at the Broncos and would like to be a one-club player,” Mimis said.
Now The Daily Telegraph reports the club will have an offer by the end of the week, with Oates hopeful of securing a two-year extension which would take him past his 200th NRL appearance at the club.