The NRL's judiciary have found Jack Wighton guilty of a shoulder charge.
Wighton was contesting a Grade 2 shoulder charge against him for a shot on Cronulla Sharks forward Toby Rudolf during the 45th minute of Saturday evening's loss.
The judiciary panel consisting of Bob Lindner and Greg McCallum heard a little over an hour of evidence before deliberating for about quarter of an hour and arriving at the verdict.
Wighton, who didn't testify at the hearing, was represented by Nick Ghabar SC at the hearing, with the defence using evidence that suggested it was a head clash between Wighton and Rudolf.
“Player Rudolf steps quite violently back toward the left. At this point there is almost inevitably going to be a head clash if player Wighton hadn't dipped. There was a head clash but if player Wighton hadn't taken evasive action it would have been much worse. I'm not saying that player Rudolf is to blame but this is a decision that had to be made in a split second," Ghabar said per NRL.com's live blog.
The panel were advised to ignore the fact Wighton didn't testify during the hearing.
The NRL, represented by Patrick Knowles SC, asked the panel to consider whether there was forceful contact generated by the shoulder or upper arm, whether arms were involved in the tackle and whether it was careless.
The judiciary viewed it that way, and Wighton will now be suspended for four weeks.
It means he will miss games against the Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans, Parramatta Eels and St George Illawarra Dragons.
South Sydney have a bye in Round 26, so he will only be eligible to play one more game this year in Round 27 against the Sydney Roosters.
He was named to play this weekend against Brisbane at five-eighth, but will now need to be replaced, so Lewis Dodd is his most likely replacement.
