Wayne Bennett

It's this tough love from Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett that has seen Corey Oates go from a lanky country boy to a Queensland Origin player in a matter of 18 months.

Bennett may have not yet complimented Oates since returning to the club in 2015, but the master coach has brought out the best in the 21-year-old, with Oates enjoying his best season and a half of football yet, cementing his position on Brisbane's wing. 

But Bennett is not the only person Oates can thank, with the Baralaba Panthers junior owing a lot to his loving parents Warren and Jeanette. 

This comes after a head knock kept him out of the second half of Friday night's 19-18 NRL Telstra Premiership loss to the Cowboys.

It was carnage on the Brisbane bench, with Corey Parker the sole available interchange at one point in the game's latter stages.

Oates (concussion), hooker Andrew McCullough (shoulder), bench prop Jarrod Wallace (elbow) and centre Jack Reed (head knock) all suffered injury setbacks amid a thrilling, topsy-turvy second half.

Shot clocks will be introduced at scrums and dropouts, and teams will now be penalised for setting up a "wall" to prevent charge-downs on field goal attempts - but it is the crackdown on the play the ball that has Bennett most concerned.

Referees have been encouraged to strictly police the play the ball and penalise those who fail to carry out the play the ball process correctly.