Canterbury Bulldogs' halfback Kyle Falanagan has been pinged with a Grade 1 dangerous throw charge for a tackle on Viliame Kikau during Friday evening's Round 13 loss to the Penrith Panthers.
The tackle came with just 11 minutes remaining in the contest, however, a Grade 1 charge, combined with it being Flanagan's first offence of the year will see him escape with a fine and be free to line up for the blue and white next weekend when they take on the Parramatta Eels in a Queen's Birthday public holiday clash at Homebush.
With an early guilty plea, his fine will be $1000, although if he fights the charge at the NRL judiciary and loses, it'll be $1500.
The tackle saw him placed on report and penalised at the time, with Kikau ruled to be lifted above the horizontal by the Canterbury halfback.
It added insult to injury on a night when the Bulldogs fell short against a Penrith team missing a number of players to State of Origin after Brad Fittler picked a NSW Blues squad laden with Panthers' talent.
Under NRL rules, if it had of been a second offence for Flanagan within a 12-month rolling window, he would have received a $2500 fine with an early guilty plea, or a two-match ban if he fought and loses.
A third offence, even as a Grade 1 charge, would have landed Flanagan witha two-match ban for an early guilty plea, or three matches if he fought and lost the charge at the judiciary.
If Burton's charge had of been handed down as a Grade 2 for Friday's offence though, he would have automatically received a two-match suspension with an early guilty plea, or three if he opted to fight and went on to lose at the judiciary.
