St George Illawarra Dragons forward Ryan Couchman has been banned for four matches by the NRL's judiciary.
Couchman was referred directly to the judiciary after being sin binned for a hip drop tackle on Parramatta Eels forward J'maine Hopgood during Sunday afternoon's clash at CommBank Stadium.
Hopgood's season is over after he sustained an ACL injury from the tackle.
The NRL's counsel requested a four-game ban during the hearing to send a strong message that hip drop tackles should be taken out of the game, and the panel, comprising of Greg McCallum and Bob Lindner, as well as chairman Geoff Bellew, obliged.
The NRL's legal counsel Lachlan Gyles did not imply that Couchman acted deliberately in the tackle, but did suggest Couchman should have abandoned the tackle when he lost his grip on Hopgood rather than risk the injury.
Gyles said the incident was a "careless mistake."
Couchman, in evidence, said he regretted thew tackle, but that he had lost his balance and attempted to fall on the ground rather than Hopgood's leg.
“I knew I lost the contact and I lost my balance. My thought was to not land on his leg. I was falling on the ground and I was trying to land my backside on the ground and not his leg. My job is to make the tackle and I didn't want to miss the tackle. My torso falls on his leg which I understand is a risk of injury. I didn't mean for that to happen. I didn't have a grip of J'maine with my left hand and I tried to grab onto Damien," the forward was quoted as saying during the hearing.
"I was making an effort not to land on his legs. I made a clumsy mistake."
Couchman's defence Nick Ghabar said the tackle wasn't in the worst category, and was rather a miscalculation, asking for a three-match ban.
