- Pauga receives a four-game ban for his ugly high tackle
- The high shot left Connor Tracey shocked.
- Tracey will now be out for 11 days with a concussion
The Sydney Roosters could be forced to pick a sixth-choice replacement at center after the NRL came down hard on Fetalaiga Pauga.
Sent off for his high throw on Canterbury fullback Connor Tracey in the Roosters’ 26-8 win on Saturday night, Pauga was hit with a reckless grade two high tackle charge on Sunday.
After suffering a concussion from the hit, Tracey will miss the Bulldogs’ clash against Cronulla on Thursday.
The charge leveled at Pauga is the same one his Roosters teammate Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii faced following State of Origin I earlier this month, and will result in a four-game suspension.
Fetalaiga Pauga (pictured) will spend a month on the sidelines after his high kick on Bulldogs player Connor Tracey.
That would increase to five games if Pauga tries to lower the charge and is unsuccessful before the judiciary.
“That’s direct head contact and he’s going to leave the field here, that’s a swinging arm,” NRL great Mick Ennis said in commentary.
“That’s a bad one.”
Roosters coach Trent Robinson was also unimpressed with the incident after the game.
“It wasn’t good,” he said.
“It’s not at all pleasant to see a player go like that. It was tough, we don’t want that, neither side, in our game.
‘It’s disappointing. She’s hurting a little in there, Junior (Pauga).
“There are things to work on on the field with that tackle (and) then you have to make sure he doesn’t take it too hard, for too long.”
Tracey (pictured) will miss the Bulldogs’ clash against Cronulla on Thursday.
The Sydney Roosters star has been hit with a grade two reckless high tackle
In better news for the Roosters, running back Sam Walker can accept a $1000 fine and avoid any suspension for his high tackle on Bulldogs center Jacob Kiraz.
Pauga’s impending suspension couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Roosters and their depleted defensive line.
Suaalii still has two more games left in his shot against Reece Walsh in Origin I and will miss matches against Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra.
Billy Smith is out indefinitely with an ankle problem, while Michael Jennings remains out with a hamstring injury.
England winger Lewis Murphy is out with a fractured scaphoid, while Robert Toia is still recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered last year.
Rugby Australia has denied any chance of Mark Nawaqanitawase joining the Roosters even though the code-swapping winger has not been named in the Wallabies squad for the upcoming tests against Wales and Georgia.
This means that coach Trent Robinson will probably have to turn to an uncapped man in the backline over the next fortnight, or ask a striker to play out of position in the crosses.
Six other players were charged for Saturday’s games, but all can avoid suspension and pay fines.
They include Warriors five-eighth Te Maire Martin and Gold Coast playmaker Jayden Campbell, both of whom were reported for hip-drop tackles.