Canberra star Josh Papalii faces a nervous wait after being put on report following a high shot on South Sydney’s Adam Doueihi that could rub him out of the NRL grand final.
Papalii was cited for making contact with the head of South Sydney fullback Adam Doueihi in the second half of the Raiders’ six-point preliminary final win.
Play was momentarily stopped after Doueihi, who was making a kick return, was floored by a jolting shot from the Raiders enforcer.
Replays showed the force of the tackle propelling Doueihi’s head forward and into Papalii’s shoulder before the back of his head hit the turf.
A penalty was awarded to the Rabbitohs, while Doueihi came off the field for a head injury assessment and later returned.
Both coaches initially believed Papalii was in trouble for a shoulder charge.
“You’ve got to understand, he’s got a wonderful technique. I don’t believe he got anything to answer to,” Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said.
“He’s hit the ball.
“There’s been a lot of other commentators who’ve seen more replays than me at the moment who I asked after the game.
“And they’re all confident in the fact that there’s more whiplash.
“But again, I don’t know. You guys have seen it more than me. I don’t know if Papa did make connection accidentally with his head.”
It is understood Papalii has had a recent clean record, which would allow him to cop a fine for a grade-one careless high tackle.
“I don’t believe that technique and style of tackle would be any more than careless,” Stuart said.
Papalii said he wasn’t worried about the incident.
“My personal opinion, I hit above the ball,” he said.
“The refs didn’t see it like that, but that’s footy. Credit to the refs, they made all the right calls tonight. And they thought I hit him in the head.
“Maybe we’re going to have to go and have a look at the video and see if I can get off because I’m pretty excited to be in a GF.”
Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett also thought Papalii might’ve been guilty of a shoulder charge, which would’ve likely suspended him from the decider.
“I just thought it was more a shoulder charge but it really wasn’t because he did wrap his arm in the end,” Bennett said.
“But I didn’t take much notice after that, so I don’t really know. I didn’t even realise, I probably didn’t think we were even going to get a penalty out of it.”
The NRL may also investigate why Raiders co-captain Josh Hodgson wasn’t tested for concussion after taking a heavy shot in the first half.
Replays showed Hodgson slightly stumbled after attempting a tackle on Rabbitohs front-rower Liam Knight.
Hodgson produced a one-on-one strip and set up the opening try of the match for Jarrod Croker not long after the incident.