Brisbane Broncos' backup hooker Danny Levi will be free to play in Round 21 against the Newcastle Knights after beating a charge at the judiciary on Tuesday evening.
The news will be a big relief to Broncos' coach Kevin Walters, who was facing a forwards shortage had Levi been pinged with a suspension.
Following the injury to regular dummy half Jake Turpin last weekend, Levi was called into the starting side for this weekend's match, and is likely to spend up to a month in the role.
While the Broncos have been able to place four forwards on their bench for this week's clash against the Knights, their reserves list featured David Mean, Albert Kelly, Anthony Milford and Xavier Coates. If Levi had of been suspended, it would have forced Kobe Hetherington to hooker, an out of position lock and one of the backs onto the bench.
Levi has reportedly been linked with English clubs in the past few days, with the journeyman potentially exiting the NRL at season's end after a season of struggling to break into first grade at Red Hill.
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Levi was charged with a Grade 1 dangerous contact charge from an incident where he used his forearm when running the ball at Tom Dearden during the Broncos' solid Friday evening victory early in Round 20.
The 25-year-old claimed during the hearing he raised his forearm in order to protect himself and said he had his eyes shut when running into the tackle, making it a natural reaction.
The NRL prosecution claimed it was careless play and called it an "unacceptable risk of injury" to Dearden.
Levi was eventually found not guilty after over half an hour of deliberation by the three man panel of Tony Puletua, Bob Lindner and Sean Garlick.
Walters named Levi at hooker yesterday for Thursday night's clash with Newcastle.
