Jason Taumalolo risks an added one-game ban for a shoulder charge at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night, his North Queensland side rolling the dice as they battle dwindling forward stocks.
Taumalolo pleaded not guilty to the first-half front-on hit on Brisbane's Alex Glenn on Friday night, which appeared to involve very little arm movement in the contact.
It also means he will become the first player to test the NRL's new simplified shoulder charge rule.
Previously, players had to have their arm tucked into their body for a hit to be deemed a shoulder charge.
Under the new rules, a player will be charged if the contact is forceful, and the player did not use, or attempt to use, his arms (including his hands) to tackle or otherwise take hold of the opposing player.
Taumalolo would have missed the Cowboys' home clash with Manly on Saturday night had he accepted the grade-one charge, but will risk another week on the sideline in fighting it.
If the charge is upheld last year's Dally M medallist will also miss the Queensland derby with Gold Coast in round four.
However the Cowboys may have deemed the move a necessary risk, given they are already without front-row leader Matt Scott for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.
North Queensland's pack was also their biggest concern heading into the season, following the departure of James Tamou for Penrith and the retirement of Ben Hannant.
Taumalolo has also been one of their best in the opening fortnight of the season.
He ran a whopping 289 metres against Canberra in the Cowboys' first golden-point win, before charging down a Broncos' field goal attempt in extra time on Friday.
The Cowboys will also be missing fullback Lachlan Coote (torn calf) and Antonio Winterstein (broken arm) in the backs for at least the next few weeks.
Scott will also contest his one-game ban for a separate shoulder charge incident in the 21-20 win over the Broncos.
Even though he is poised to miss the match regardless, he will keep his 25 per cent discount for a seven-year clean record in tact for future charges if he wins the case.
Elsewhere, the Warriors' Charlie Gubb and Canberra's Sia Soliola each escaped bans after pleading guilty to dangerous contact charges.
