It was a mixed night for Melbourne at the judiciary with Nelson Asofa-Solomona copping a one-match ban for contrary conduct while Reimis Smith was cleared to play after having a high tackle charge downgraded.
After deciding that Smith's shot on Titans prop Jaimin Jolliffe was only worthy of a grade-one charge, the panel of Sean Garlick, Ben Creagh and Tony Puletua deliberated for about four minutes before finding Asofa-Solomona guilty.
The hulking Kiwi prop, who will now miss Sunday's clash with the Warriors at Gosford, was found to have used his right leg to make contact with Joseph Vuna's head in the Storm's win over the Titans last weekend.
NRL prosecutor Peter McGrath successfully argued the 52nd-minute act was deliberate.
He claimed that Asofa-Solomona, vexed at Vuna's attempts to slow down his play-the-ball, ended up "using [Vuna's head] as a sort of pillow to lean on" as he "knelt".
While McGrath said the act was "done with complete awareness of the situation", Asofa-Solomona's lawyer Nick Ghabar told the panel the contact was "totally incidental".
Ghabar's case was that Vuna put himself in an awkward position by using clear spoiling tactics and that "fairness needs to be asked in relation to both players".
Asofa-Solomona would have been suspended for one match even if he took the early guilty plea – with 20 percent loading applied for a non-similar incident in the past two years – so it was worth gambling at the judiciary.
Smith was in a similar situation in that he would have received a two-game ban whether he entered an early guilty plea or had his initial grade-two charge upheld by the panel.
Instead, he got away with a $1600 fine.
The former Bulldog landed himself in trouble after being sin-binned for his 67th-minute hit on Jolliffe, who was on his way to the turf at the point of impact after bouncing away from Trent Loiero's attempted tackle.
"One of the very important elements is that whilst player Jolliffe was dropping he was still going forward," Ghabar said.
"He loses [traction with] his right leg and he stumbles forward into the contact.
"Frankly, if he hasn't fallen at least a foot and a half, he's fallen a significant amount in that fraction of a second.
"[It was] a very fast and a very substantial drop in player Jolliffe's head height."
However, NRL prosecutor Peter McGrath posited that Smith had ample time to consider his tackling method because he was "about a metre" behind Loiero.
He submitted there was "moderate force" and that Smith "clenched his fist" and swung his arm in an upward motion.
The Storm named Smith to start in the centres on Tuesday afternoon but they'll now need to elevate a reserve to replace Asofa-Solomona.
Both players appeared before the judiciary via video link.
Knights pair Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Sauaso Sue both took early guilty pleas to charges arising from their loss to Parramatta on Sunday.
Sue has been fined $1150 for a dangerous contact charge while Fitzgibbon was fined the same amount for a careless high tackle on Waqa Blake.
Asofa-Solomona charged twice
Titans centre Patrick Herbert was handed a grade-one dangerous contact charge for an incident in the loss to Melbourne.
Panthers backs Robert Jennings and Dylan Edwards and Wests Tigers duo Moses Mbye and James Roberts all received fines after being charged over incidents in Friday night's match at Leichhardt Oval.
Jennings received a grade-one careless high tackle charge for contact on Wests Tigers forward Luciano Leilua which resulted in a penalty try, while Edwards received a grade-one contrary conduct charge for his involvement in a melee shortly after half-time.
Mbye and Roberts were charged with grade-one contrary conduct charges, Mbye from a tackle on Stephen Crichton and Roberts for his role in the melee.
Brisbane rookie TC Robati was the one player charged from Thursday night's match between the Dragons and Broncos.
Robati, who was playing in his second NRL match, has received a $1350 fine after being issued a grade-one careless high tackle charge for a 45th-minute incident involving Dragons forward Poasa Faamausili.
| Name | Nelson Asofa-Solomona |
| Club | Storm |
| Time Minute of Match | 52nd |
| Charge/Incident | Contrary Conduct |
| Charge Grade | 1 |
| Result - Guilty or not guilty | Guilty at panel |
| Matches to serve | 1 |
| Points/fine calculation | 170 |
| Carry-over Points | 70 |
| Misconduct on whom? | Joseph Vuna |
| Name | Reimis Smith |
| Club | Storm |
| Time Minute of Match | 67th |
| Charge/Incident | High Tackle - Careless |
| Charge Grade | 2 |
| Result - Guilty or not guilty | Downgraded to 1 at judiciary |
| Matches to serve | 0 |
| Points/fine calculation | $1600 |
| Carry-over Points | N/A |
| Misconduct on whom? | Jaimin Jolliffe |
| Name | Sauaso Sue |
| Club | Knights |
| Time Minute of Match | 67th |
| Charge/Incident | Dangerous Contact - Other |
| Charge Grade | 1 |
| Result - Guilty or not guilty | Guilty - early plea |
| Matches to serve | 0 |
| Points/fine calculation | $1150 |
| Carry-over points | N/A |
| Misconduct on whom? | Reed Mahoney |
| Name | Lachlan Fitzgibbon |
| Club | Knights |
| Time Minute of Match | 27th |
| Charge/Incident | High Tackle - Careless |
| Charge Grade | 1 |
| Result - Guilty or not guilty | Guilty - early plea |
| Matches to serve | 0 |
| Points/fine calculation | $1150 |
| Carry-over points | N/A |
| Misconduct on whom? | Waqa Blake |
| Name | Teui Robati |
| Club | Broncos |
| Time Minute of Match | 45th |
| Charge/Incident | High tackle - Careless |
| Charge Grade | 1 |
| Result | Guilty - early plea |
| Matches to serve | 0 |
| Points/Fine calculation | $1350 |
| Carry-over Points | N/A |
| Misconduct on whom? | Poasa Faamausili |
| Name | Moses Mbye |
| Club | Tigers |
| Time Minute of Match | 34th |
| Charge/Incident | Contrary conduct |
| Charge Grade | 1 |
| Result | Guilty - early plea |
| Matches to serve | 0 |
| Points/Fine calculation | $1150 |
| Carry-over Points | N/A |
| Misconduct on whom? | Stephen Crichton |
| Name | James Roberts |
| Club | Tigers |
| Time Minute of Match | 46th |
| Charge/Incident | Contrary conduct |
| Charge Grade | 1 |
| Result | Guilty - early plea |
| Matches to serve | 0 |
| Points/Fine calculation | $1350 |
| Carry-over Points | N/A |
| Misconduct on whom? | Melee |
| Name | Dylan Edwards |
| Club | Panthers |
| Time Minute of Match | 47th |
| Charge/Incident | Contrary conduct |
| Charge Grade | 1 |
| Result | Guilty - early plea |
| Matches to serve | 0 |
| Points/Fine calculation | $1700 |
| Carry-over Points | N/A |
| Misconduct on whom? | Melee |
| Name | Robert Jennings |
| Club | Panthers |
| Time Minute of Match | 66th |
| Charge/Incident | High tackle - careless |
| Charge Grade | 1 |
| Result | Guilty - early plea |
| Matches to serve | 0 |
| Points/Fine calculation | $1350 |
| Carry-over Points | N/A |
| Misconduct on whom? | Luciano Leilua |
| Name | Nelson Asofa-Solomona |
| Club | Storm |
| Time Minute of Match | 5th |
| Charge/Incident | High tackle - careless |
| Charge Grade | 1 |
| Result | Guilty - early plea |
| Matches to serve | 0 |
| Points/Fine calculation | $1900 |
| Carry-over Points | N/A |
| Misconduct on whom? | Jayden Campbell |
| Name | Patrick Herbert |
| Club | Titans |
| Time Minute of Match | 24th |
| Charge/Incident | Dangerous contact - other |
| Charge Grade | 1 |
| Result | Guilty - early plea |
| Matches to serve | 0 |
| Points/Fine calculation | $1150 |
| Carry-over Points | N/A |
| Misconduct on whom? | Kenny Bromwich |
