Stephen Crichton is set to be rubbed out of Canterbury’s blockbuster clash with Manly after the Bulldogs captain was hit with a grade-two careless high-tackle charge.
Crichton was on Saturday morning charged over the shot that left Roger Tuivasa-Sheck with a concussion, prematurely ending the Warrior’s season.
The Bulldogs centre can accept the one-match suspension with an early guilty plea, or fight the charge and risk a second game on the sideline against North Queensland in round 27 if he loses at the judiciary.
Crichton could have been facing more time on the sideline had the match review committee deemed the hit to be a shoulder charge.
But the contact with Tuivasa-Sheck’s head was instead considered a high tackle, allowing him to return for the final home-and-away round with an early plea.
Crichton was not sin-binned for the hit which came at a crucial point in the Bulldogs’ 34-18 win.
With the Warriors already down a centre through the injured Adam Pompey, Tuivasa-Sheck was forced to leave the field and did not return.
Had Crichton been sin-binned, the Bulldogs would have been down to 12 men and the Warriors could have activated forward Tom Ale as 18th man.
The decision not to sin-bin Crichton also raised eyebrows and questions over consistency
Manly second-row Haumole Olakau’atu was sin-binned in his team’s loss to Wests Tigers on Thursday night, but only received a grade-one charge from the match review committee.
A win over seventh-placed Sea Eagles on Friday evening would keep Canterbury’s top-four hopes alive, while a loss would put them at risk of missing out on a home final.
Warriors pair Jazz Tevaga and Addin Fonua-Blake, along with Brisbane’s Brendan Piakura and Parramatta’s Reagan Campbell-Gillard, can all take fines for offences on Friday night.
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