The Penrith Panthers will be without outside back Casey McLean next week unless he can successfully argue against a high tackle charge at the NRL judiciary.
McLean was sin-binned after making what was described on the field as "direct, moderate force contact" with Bulldogs prop Max King during the opening minutes of Thursday night's shock loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Some arguments against the sin binning suggested it was more of a head clash than a high shot, although there was no mitigating factor for McLean prior to contact being made.
McLean has now been slapped with a Grade 2 careless high tackle charge, which, as a first offence on his rolling 12-month record, will see him facing a one-match sanction with an early guilty plea, or risk a second match if he fights at the judiciary, where he could either look for a downgrade to a fineable offence, or plead not guilty entirely.
The only other charge to come out of the game came against Canterbury forward Kurt Mann, who has been hit for a careless high tackle as well for his first-half shot on Scott Sorensen.
His charge is of a Grade 1 nature, though, meaning he will only face a fine of $1000, to be exact, with an early guilty plea, or $1500 if he fights and loses. It's a first offence on his record.
Both players have until midday (AEST) on Saturday to determine their pleas.
