North Queensland's forward crisis has deepened after Jason Taumalolo was found guilty of a shoulder charge by the NRL judiciary, rubbing him out for two weeks.
Taumalolo pleaded not guilty to a grade one charge for a hit on Brisbane's Alex Glenn but was suspended for the next fortnight and will miss the Cowboys' clashes with Manly and Gold Coast.
The Kiwi wrecking ball's loss will be sorely felt after co-captain Matt Scott was ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, stretching the Cowboy's forward stocks.
He would have only missed one game with an early guilty plea but unsuccessfully rolled the dice at the judiciary at Rugby League Central on Tuesday night.
Scott, though, was on Tuesday night found not guilty of a shoulder charge on Korbin Sims, clearing him of a possible suspension. But the result was inconsequential after he suffered a serious knee injury in the same game.
Taumalolo's suspension all but squashes his chances of winning back-to-back Dally M Medals.
The 23-year-old, who was the co-winner of the game's highest individual honour alongside Cooper Cronk last year, will be deducted six points, effectively ruling him out of the running.
The judiciary panel of Bob Lindner, Sean Garlick and Tony Puletua took nearly 30 minutes to deliberate on their verdict before finding Taumalolo guilty.
It was the first test of the NRL's shoulder charge rules after the interpretation was simplified in the wake of criticism and accusations of inconsistencies by the match review panel last year.
The NRL fine-tuned the laws to remove any mention of the arm being tucked. Under the new rules, a hit is considered a shoulder charge if a player does not attempt to use their arms to tackle and there is forceful contact.
NRL counsel Peter McGrath argued that Taumalolo satisfied both criteria under the interpretation - that he had made forceful contact and not attempted to wrap up the ball runner.
He pointed out that Glenn was knocked sideways by the impact and Taumalolo's left arm was tucked and his fist clenched as he braced.
"There is no attempt to wrap or grab hold," McGrath said.
Cowboys coach Paul Green, who represented Taumalolo via video link from Townsville, unsuccessfully argued that his No.13 showed a duty of care to Glenn and was trying to affect a tackle.
"It's a one-on-one tackle and you can actually see (Glenn) spins out of the tackle," Green argued.
"He was unable to get a grip."
Former Canberra back-rower Shaun Fensom is now a chance to make his club debut for the Cowboys against the Sea Eagles at 1300 Smiles Stadium on Saturday.
Scott successfully argued he inadvertently made contact with the shoulder in an attempt to avoid a head clash with Sims.
He said he turned his body after Sims stepped late and was trying to preserve himself and the Broncos prop.
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