Brisbane back-rower Ben Te’o succeeded in his attempts to get a careless tackle charge downgraded at the NRL judiciary on Wednesday.
Te’o was hit with a grade-two charge by the match review committee on Monday for his challenge on Gold Coast prop Luke Bailey last Friday.
The Queensland representative admitted the contact was high, but said the force of the hit to the neck and chin of the former NSW forward was a result of him attempting to pull his arm out of the challenge, but it slipped up due to Bailey’s momentum.
Te’o’s counsel Peter Shields used video footage of five other offences he said were comparable but only awarded with grade-one charges, including one by a St George Illawarra player from last weekend on South Sydney’s Sam Burgess.
The panel of Michael Buettner, Mal Cochrane and Chris McKenna took less than 10 minutes to make the decision.
Te’o is free to face Parramatta at Suncorp Stadium on Monday but will hold 77 carryover points.
“We are happy with the result – it made the trip down worthwhile,” said Shields.
South Sydney’s Greg Inglis was due to appear before the panel at 7pm (AEST) to try to get his grade-four dangerous contact reduced.