On 21 April 2012, Oates represented the Queensland Under 20s team against the New South Wales Under 20s, playing off the interchange bench in the 18–14 loss at Penrith Stadium.

[14] Oates missed the first two matches of the season with a knee injury, returning in Round 3 against the Sydney Roosters, playing off the interchange bench in the 30–26 loss at Suncorp Stadium.

[15] On 18 July 2014, Oates was demoted to the Queensland Cup along with Jack Reed and Daniel Vidot by coach Anthony Griffin after breaching team protocol with a mid-week boozing session.

[23] On 4 October 2015, Oates played 2015 NRL Grand Final against the North Queensland Cowboys, starting on the wing and scoring the first try of the match but later made a crucial defensive error on the final siren by running off his wing to tackle Michael Morgan with the ball who flicked the ball to the unmarked Kyle Feldt to tie up the scores at 16-all to send the match into golden point, during which Brisbane lost 17-16 after Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston kicked the premiership sealing field goal for his club.

[29] After showing some great try scoring form in the early rounds, Oates earn himself a wing spot for Queensland in the 2016 State of Origin series.

[30] On 1 June 2016 Oates made his debut for Queensland in Game 1, on the wing in the Maroons low scoring 6–4 win at ANZ Stadium.

[34] After another solid start to the season, Oates was selected for Queensland on the wing for Game 1 of the 2017 State of Origin series, scoring the Maroons only try in the shock 28–4 loss against New South Wales at Suncorp Stadium.

[38][39] Oates later made his return in Round 22 in the local derby match against the Gold Coast Titans, scoring a try in the 54-0 smashing win at Robina Stadium.

[41] After suffering the heavy knock, Oates was later cleared of concussion and played in Brisbane's season-ending 30-0 preliminary final loss against the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park.

Before the start of the season, Oates made a request to switch from the wing to second-row due to his bigger frame being more suited to the forwards.

[44] In March 2018, Oates who was off contract at the end of the year, attracted the attention of North Queensland and South Sydney for his signature and a promise of a permanent place in the forwards.

[47][48] Oates returned to State of Origin arena for game 3 after captain Greg Inglis was ruled out injured, playing on the wing in the 18–12 victory for Queensland.

[53][54][55] Oates played 14 games for Brisbane in the 2020 NRL season as the club finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon for the first time in their history.

[65] Oates had decided against testing the open market and cited his main reasons for retiring was to spend more time with his family and injuries.