3 minute read

Brisbane winger Corey Oates' humour has come in handy during what he acknowledges has been a rocky start to the NRL season.

The critics are lining up and Brisbane wingers Jamayne Isaako and Corey Oates can't help but take notice.

The Broncos have come under fire from a host of former players this season, with the NRL club's culture questioned and captain Darius Boyd's form in the spotlight.

Humour and confidence is the tonic though, Oates says, as they look to improve a 1-4 record in Canberra on Sunday.

"No-one likes us at the moment but it's not an easy game, it's not like you're playing under-6s and you just grab the ball and run around people," Oates mused.

"It's tough to cop the losses, let alone everything everyone's saying about us.

"But we're a strong team and I feel like we can leave all that behind us.

"It's up to us to silence them; we aren't losing on purpose, want to be there at end of year and hold up that trophy."

Isaako admitted it was hard to ignore criticism from the likes of Justin Hodges, Gorden Tallis and Trevor Gillmeister in the last fortnight.

"We just need to sit tight," he said.

"There's a lot of people out there that make those sort of comments but not many are here putting in the hard yards."

The Broncos' tough start to the season was summed up in one play last Thursday, when Jack Bird's simple dropped ball bombed a certain try.

Oates threw that pass to Bird and could only laugh about it on Tuesday.

"He said to me after 'usually you just go yourself, I was getting ready to cheer for you'," he joked.

"So from now on I'm not going to pass it to him.

"But that's just the way it's been for us; everyone coming at us, it does affect a few people and probably hurts your confidence a bit.

"It's in the back of your mind and those little things happen."