They used to be the Raiders' leaky right edge, but a renewed defensive resolve has them setting their sights on stopping the Brisbane Broncos sow their Oates.
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The Canberra Raiders are chasing their third straight win when they take on the Broncos at Canberra Stadium on Easter Sunday, which would end a six-game losing streak against the visitors in the process.
It would mean their best start to an NRL season since 2003 and stopping Brisbane winger Corey Oates will put them a long way towards making that happen.
Oates is the Broncos' leading try scorer with five and he leads them for line breaks as well (five).
He's part of the Brisbane left edge, along with centre Jack Bird and under-fire-five-eighth Anthony Milford.
They'll be up against the Green Machine's dynamic duo "Leipana" - centre Joey Leilua and winger Jordan Rapana - along with halfback Sam Williams.
While the Raiders' right has always been extremely potent in attack, it's also had its defensive frailties - conceding more than half of the tries scored against Canberra last season.
But that's changed after Raiders coach Ricky Stuart's defensive focus during the off-season.
Stuart's started to build a lime green wall to complement his explosive attack and that's seen a shoring up of the right.
They've conceded just one try in the opening five rounds, while running in six themselves.
Leilua has spent the week doing his homework to keep that solid start going - and stop Oates and Co in the process.
"Corey Oates and Jack Bird, obviously those two are great players - they've played Origin," he said.
"For me and Rapa it's making sure we keep them contained. We've just got to do our job.
"We're doing a lot of homework on them so we should be on our game.
"You've got Milford on that side as well so he's probably giving [them] most of the ball."
Leipana have the size to be able to handle Oates, who's 192-centimetres tall and 105 kilograms - Rapana is 187cm and 100kg, while Leilua's 185cm and 106kg.
Leilua goes into the game with extra motivation.
He's never beaten the Broncos since joining the Raiders midway through 2015.
The closest he's come in four attempts was the heartbreaking 13-12 loss at Suncorp Stadium two years ago.
"Since I've come here we haven't won against them and it's a big thing for us this week to make sure we put our best effort out there," Leilua said.
"In the back of your head it's that they've beaten us six times and the last time they beat them was 2013 and I wasn't even here.
"It's going to be a big effort on the weekend for us."
It's part of the reason why the Raiders are wary of a Broncos ambush, despite Brisbane's poor start to the season.
The Broncos have only won one game this season, although they've had close losses against St George Illawarra and Wests Tigers.
They're also expecting a backlash from the under-fire Milford, whose halves pairing with Kodi Nikorima has copped plenty of criticism.
Milford played 42 NRL games for the Raiders before joining the Broncos on a big-money deal.
Leilua felt Milford would return with something to prove.
"I think so. This was his last club and they wanted him to stay. He's going to go out there and want to prove himself," he said.
"Especially for himself, in his position you want to be known as one of those great halves that's played for the Broncos and I think he's going to prove himself out there this weekend. We've just got to contain him."
NRL ROUND SIX
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Brisbane Broncos at Canberra Stadium, 5pm. Tickets from Ticketek.
Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Sam Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Hudson Young, 16. Sia Soliola, 17. JJ Collins. Reserves: 18. Aidan Sezer, 19. Corey Horsburgh, 20. Jack Murchie, 21. Bailey Simonsson.
Broncos squad: 1. Darius Boyd (c), 2. Corey Oates, 3. Kotoni Staggs, 4. Jack Bird, 5. Jamayne Isaako, 6. Anthony Milford, 7. Kodi Nikorima, 8. Payne Haas, 9. Andrew McCullough, 10. Joe Ofahengaue, 11. Alex Glenn, 12. Matt Gillett, 13. David Fifita. Interchange: 14. Gehamat Shibasaki, 15. Jaydn Su'A, 16. Thomas Flegler, 17. Patrick Carrigan. Reserves: 18. Shaun Fensom, 19. Patrick Mago, 20. James Roberts, 21. Richard Kennar.