Oates firing again for Broncos after Seibold heart to heart

Corey Oates credits a heart to heart with coach Anthony Seibold for his bounce back to form as he prepares to up the ante against the Storm on Friday in "a massive test" of Brisbane's finals credentials.

Oates ran for 201 metres and scored a double in the 28-6 win over the Bulldogs in round 18 and backed that up with 216 metres and another try against the Titans in the 34-12 win on Saturday on a night where he also made no errors.

He was asked by Seibold to sit out the 18-all draw with the Warriors in round 17 following a gruelling State of Origin series campaign with the Maroons during which Oates had two poor club games against the Knights and Eels.

Seibold earlier said he gave Oates "a kick up the backside" for those efforts and wanted him to return to the outstanding form that he delivered earlier in the season.

The Maroons winger, who has 13 tries for the season, conceded the Origin campaign had affected him more than in previous years but has since answered the coach’s call.

"He just said that the Origin period got me a little bit. I can’t disagree," Oates said of his chat with Seibold.

"I don’t think they were my best games and his decision was to give me the week off and rest a few little injuries and soreness. I felt a lot better afterwards.

"You’ve got to go through those tough periods and try and change the poor performance or poor starts but that is all on me. That was for me to change and fix up and that’s what I am going to be doing for the rest of the year."

Oates said the Broncos, now in eighth position on the Telstra Premiership ladder, would need to "turn up and play our best game of the year" if they are to overpower the competition leaders at Suncorp Stadium.

"It is massive test. They are the benchmark," Oates said.

"If you don’t turn up and bring your best performance you are going to get rolled over and run amok around. I don’t want to be the reason for that.

"They book this game on their calendar as their 'let’s go and flog them and bash them up'. We have to try and stop that and make this our home and not let anyone get through us.

"It has been a good couple of weeks but I still know there is a lot of improvement in my game. I’m going to try and do more and more each week for the team … take the tough carries, get my roll-on and quick play the balls and try and communicate with the edge to get the boys talking together."

The Broncos will be without lock Tevita Pangai jnr who has taken an early guilty plea for his careless high tackle charge on Titans winger Phillip Sami.

Thomas Flegler will return from suspension and Matt Gillett is set to play his first game for Brisbane since the June 15 loss to the Knights. Gillett missed Origin III with a groin injury and then picked up a lower back complaint.

"Tevita will be a big miss but we’ve got a great player coming in," Oates said.

"Gillo’s had a few weeks off now. He should be fresh and ready to go and hopefully all the niggles are gone. I am really confident that Gillo’s is going to come in and play a great game. He has played 196 games now and is full of experience and energy."

Oates is off contract but is expected to re-sign with the Broncos in the near future.

"It would be nice. I think it is all getting sorted out now so hopefully I am staying," he said.