Justin Hodges, Corey Oates physically separated after almost coming to blows in Brisbane bar

JUSTIN Hodges and Corey Oates had to be physically separated by onlookers after nearly coming to blows at a Fortitude Valley bar on Saturday night.

Justin Hodges and Corey Oates physically separated after coming to blows in a Brisbane bar. Pic Jono Searle.

JUSTIN Hodges and Corey Oates had to be physically separated by onlookers after nearly coming to blows at a Fortitude Valley bar on Saturday night.

The Courier-Mail can reveal Hodges, Oates and recently retired Brisbane Broncos centre Jack Reed spent the day drinking at a function at Doomben Racecourse before moving on to At Sixes and Sevens on James Street.

The trio kept drinking at the Fortitude Valley bar for a few hours before tensions reached boiling point.

It’s understood the former Queensland Origin great and current Origin star had to be separated by onlookers after Hodges told Oates that he would “put one on his chin if he didn’t stop carrying on”.

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Corey Oates and Justin Hodges came to blows at a Brisbane bar.

Hodges, who is still employed by the Broncos in a commercial role after retiring at the end of 2015, admitted there had been an altercation when contacted by The Courier-Mail but put the stoush down to boys being boys.

He declined to make any official comment.

A source that spent the night drinking with the trio at the James Street bar said Hodges was ready to “shape up”.

“Corey was pretty drunk and making a bit of a racket but Hodgo was ready to go,” the source said.

“They had been drinking all day and all night and as the night went on they started to get a bit sh**ty with each other.

“Hodgo was ready to shape up at him (Oates) but it all got broken up before anything too serious happened.”

Broncos CEO Paul White did not return calls when contacted for comment.

It’s not the first time a pair of Broncos have been dragged away from a physical stoush, with Josh McGuire and Salesi Funaki having traded blows at training in September.

McGuire was dragged away by teammates while other second-string Broncos calmed Funaki down.

Originally published as Justin Hodges, Corey Oates physically separated after almost coming to blows in Brisbane bar