Latrell Mitchell will take up a free shot at trying to beat a dangerous contact charge at the NRL judiciary and clear his name to play in the Sydney Roosters' preliminary final.
Mitchell was charged with a grade one offence for his crusher tackle on Cronulla's Josh Dugan in the Roosters' 21-12 win on Saturday night.
With carryover points and weighting for prior offences, Mitchell was set to miss just one game before being available for the grand final if the Roosters qualify, regardless of whether he pleaded guilty or fought the case at the judiciary and lost.
However, if he beats the charge on Tuesday night, he will be free to run out on Saturday week at Allianz Stadium.
The NSW State of Origin centre's inclusion would be a massive boost for the Roosters, who are still without Dylan Napa through suspension for one more game.
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Korbin Sims' nightmare Brisbane farewell got even worse on Monday morning after he was hit with a grade two dangerous throw charge stemming from the Broncos' 48-18 elimination final loss to St George Illawarra.
However, in a twist, the Dragons will be the team punished, with Sims set to miss the opening games of next year's regular season for the Saints at the start of his three-year deal with the club.
He faces a ban of up to three games for his first-half lifting tackle on Blake Lawrie, which could be reduced to two matches if he enters an early guilty plea.
Given the grading of the charge, he will be free to play in the pre-season trials before starting to serve the ban in round one.
The tackle was among a string of Sims errors that helped provide first-half spark for the Dragons, who scored four tries in 18 minutes to lead 28-10 at the break.
A distraught Sims had to be consoled by Broncos teammates after the game - his first finals match in 120 NRL appearances.
