The Sydney Roosters are weighing up whether to challenge a high tackle charge which threatens to rub forward Zane Tetevano out of their NRL finals campaign.
The Roosters hitman was on Sunday slapped with a grade-three high tackle charge for his shot on Gold Coast prop Ben Nakubuwai and will miss three matches with an early guilty plea.
If he accepts the ban, it would mean the only part he could play in the finals is if the Roosters lose to Brisbane in week one of the finals but go on to make the grand final.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson suggested there wasn't much in the incident and the club is reviewing the incident and has until midday Tuesday to enter a plea.
Should the Roosters fight the charge at the judiciary and lose, Tetevano would be rubbed out for five weeks, ruling him out for the rest of the season.
"I thought it was really tough, but it wasn't a loose tackle," Robinson said.
"He stepped in, tackled him, wrapped with the arms, went all the way to the ground, and Zane was really clear about the tackle. There was no malice in the tackle.
"It was a big, strong, firm tackle. And then I'm not sure about the whiplash that caused that, but none of us liked seeing him move off the field like that."
Tetevano has become a vital part of the Roosters' forwards rotation off the bench, playing in 22 of the team's 24 games and averaging 74 metres in 31 minutes.
Tetevano shot out of the defensive line to put on a shot on Nakubuwai with his shoulder appearing to catch the rookie's head.
Nakubawai left the field on a medicab and had no memory of the incident.
"He'll take a little while to recover. He's OK, he's in the shed there, but he's got no memory. Told him a few porky pies, told him he scored another try. He's pretty happy with that," Titans interim co-coach Terry Matterson said.
"He'll be okay but it wasn't nice. He didn't miss him."
Matterson refuted suggestions Tetevano deserved to be sent off, citing similar incidents.
"I think that's the way they're going now," he said. "I think it's important we don't have a knee-jerk reaction and we get consistency in what we're doing."
Meanwhile, Manly forward Darcy Lussick is also looking at missing the opening week of the finals after being charged with tripping Penrith hooker Peter Wallace during his team's win over the Panthers on Saturday.
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