Warriors lock Jazz Tevaga is facing a multi-week ban, after being cited for dangerous contact on Broncos counterpart Patrick Carrigan in the side's 20-6 win on Saturday night.
Tevaga was handed a grade three charge for his contact on Carrigan, which left the Broncos skipper hobbling off with a kneeinjury 26 minutes into the contest.
With Carrigan being held in a tackle by two other Warriors, Tevaga came from behind and tackled him low around the legs to get him to ground. However, Tevaga came into the tackle from the side, which saw Carrigan's right knee take the brunt of the force in his tackle, and he immediately clutched at it as the trainers came on to assist him.
Tevaga was placed on report, as referee Chris Sutton informed him there was an unacceptable risk of injury in his execution.
"There's a way to do that, that third man in, but not from the side, not below the knee, and not with force," former NRL coach Shane Flanagan said in assessing Tevaga's tackle on the broadcast.
That type of 'cannonball' tackle has been controversial in recent years due to the damage the situation can do to the ball handler, particularly to knee ligaments. While Carrigan initially looked as though he would try to stay on the pitch, he was replaced moments later and did not return to the match.
On Sunday morning, the Broncos confirmed they would be without their captain for an extended period, with Carrigan facing up to six weeks on the sidelines after sustaining a grade two Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) strain.
The penalty for a grade three dangerous contact charge is a two-to-three-week ban, with an early guilty plea likely to keep the suspension to two weeks.
It was one of four incidents sent to the judiciary in the match – with Broncos prop Thomas Flegler committing the other three.
Flegler faces the same length of time on the sidelines as Tevaga, also copping a grade three dangerous contact charge, as well as two grade one dangerous contact charges which come with a monetary penalty of up to $1500.
