Gold Coast prop Moeaki Fotuaika will miss one match after being sent off for a high shot in the loss to the Warriors on Friday night.
Penrith five-eighth Jarome Luai has escaped a suspension of his own and instead received a fine for a shoulder charge on Melbourne’s Nelson Asofa-Solomona in the later game at Penrith.
Early in the clash at Cbus Super Stadium, Fotuaika made high contact to the head of Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who fell to the ground in discomfort and eventually walked from the field in a daze.
The Titans were forced to play 64 minutes with only 12 men when referee Ben Cummins sent Fotuaika from the field and they ultimately lost 28-18.
Fotuaika became the second NRL player to be sent off in the space of 24 hours, with Sydney Roosters middle Nathan Brown marched against Manly on Thursday.
Brown also received a one-match ban but Titans interim coach Jim Lenihan did not believe Foutaika’s hit was of the same severity.
“I don’t think Moe is recklessly coming out of the ground. Moe is pretty much bracing,” he said.
“There might have been a bit of contact to the head and 10 minutes (in the sin bin) was probably sufficient. I don’t know if it justifies at that point to ruin the game.
“It put us under a hell of a lot of pressure and pretty much the game was over at that point.”
On Saturday morning, the match review committee handed Fotuaika a grade-two careless high-tackle charge and proposed a one-match ban.
He will miss next Friday’s clash against Cronulla but risks sitting out of the subsequent game against Penrith if he opts to challenge the charge at the judiciary.
Prior to round 23, only one player had been sent from the field this season – Newcastle prop Jacob Saifiti in round two – but Lenihan said the NRL had not given clubs any notice of a crackdown.
“I didn’t hear anything. We had no warning on it,” he said.
In Penrith, Luai found himself placed on report for a shoulder charge in the Panthers’ 26-6 victory over the Storm but the shot on Asofa-Solomona was categorised as a grade-one careless high tackle.
He will pay a $3,000 fine with an early guilty plea.
Warriors second-rower Marata Niukore was not charged for slapping Gold Coast’s David Fifita – an offence that landed him in the sin bin during the first half.
