Newcastle Knights' prop Jacob Saifiti is set to spend five weeks on the sideline unless he heads to the judiciary and wins after a horrid high shot on Wests Tigers' dummy half Jake Simpkin during Sunday afternoon's Round 2 fixture.
The prop, who was somewhat surprisingly demoted to the bench for the game against the Tigers, found himself in hot water after making contact high with Simpkin in the 64th minute.
The shot left Simpkin rattled, with the Tigers' back-up dummy half immediately taken from the ground for a head injury assessment and not returning during the final 15 minutes of the clash.
Saifiti was given his marching orders by referee Peter Gough on the advice of bunker official Matt Noyen, becoming the first player sent off in 2023.
The NRL's match review committee have not viewed the incident lightly either, slapping a Grade 3 reckless high tackle charge on Saifiti, who is looking at five weeks on the sideline with an early guilty plea.
Should he head to the judiciary and lose, he will be facing six weeks out of the game, although he could also head to the judiciary and either fight for a downgrade, or plead guilty to the lesser charge of a careless high tackle, as Cronulla Sharks' second-rower Wade Graham did last week.
He was ultimately unsuccessful at the judiciary and copped a four-game ban for a Grade 1 reckless high tackle.
Saifiti is somewhat lucky that this is only his first charge on a rotating 12-month record sheet - if this was a third offence, he would be set to spend seven weeks on the sideline with an early guilty plea.
Should he plead guilty to the tackle, he will miss games against the Dolphins, Canberra Raiders, Manly Sea Eagles, New Zealand Warriors and Penrith Panthers, while he risks the Round 8 clash against the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville if he heads to the judiciary.
Newcastle team-mate Jackson Hastings was also charged for his high tackle on Tommy Talau, however the Grade 1 careless high tackle means the halfback will pay $1,800 with an early guilty plea, or push it to $2,500 if he fails in beating the charge.
Saifiti will need to make a call on whether to head to the judiciary or not in the next 24 hours, with any potential case to be heard on Tuesday evening.
