Kiwis and Sydney Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves could face two weeks on the sideline, after a brutal late shot on Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga during his side's shock 38-12 defeat at Newcastle.
Warea-Hargreaves has been charged for dangerous contact to the neck/head region. The charge is a grade one and could see the 30-year-old miss the next two games.
Midway through the second half of their round 11 clash, Waerea-Hargreaves collected Ponga hard after a kick, which sparked a minor melee.
Ponga stayed on the ground, before leaving the field for a concussion test, which he failed and was forced to sit out the remainder of the match.
Even though replays showed Waerea-Hargreaves clearly hit Ponga well after he'd kicked the ball, lead referee Ben Cummins told the two captains - Mitchell Pearce and Boyd Cordner - that "there's nothing wrong with the tackle".
"It's clear it's just contact on the ground, but what I won't have is players coming in and starting a scuffle," Cummins explained.
"If that happens again, someone will sit down... there's nothing wrong with that [tackle]."
The decision not to penalise Waerea-Hargreaves didn't sit well with fans in the stand, the commentators or armchair critics on social media.
"Maybe it's Ben Cummins who might be concussed," said commentator Brett Finch.
"How's that not a penalty? He's put his shoulders through his head."
On Channel 9, Phil Gould said Waerea-Hargreaves was lucky to stay on the field.
"In another era, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves would be leaving in an ambulance," Gould said. "If you did that to another young player in Newcastle, you wouldn't get away with it."
Knights coach Nathan Brown wasn't interested in discussing the incident during his post-match conference.
"I was more interested in our response," Brown said. "I thought our response to it was good.
"I thought our defensive sets were great after what happened.
"Ponga's fine. He wasn't deemed able to go back on with the protocols, but he's good as gold."
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