The Sydney Roosters admit the loss of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves for Saturday’s qualifying final against Manly will hurt the minor premiers.

But the tricolours are confident they have the depth to cover him if the club fails to overturn a one-match ban at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday.

Waerea-Hargreaves is contesting a grade one dangerous contact charge for his raised forearm into the throat of South Sydney’s Chris McQueen in last Friday’s minor premiership decider at ANZ Stadium.

The Kiwi prop faced a one-game suspension for the charge, thanks to carry-over points from a round-nine high tackle on Manly’s George Rose.

However the Roosters face the risk of adding carry-over points by challenging the charge.

If Tuesday’s bid is unsuccessful, Waerea-Hargreaves will be saddled with 38 points that could allow the smallest of indiscretions during the finals series to attract a suspension.

“If that’s the way it goes, obviously he’s a massive loss,” Michael Jennings told reporters on Tuesday.

“He’s our go-forward and everything he does off the ball is crucial for us.

“It is going to be disappointing if we lose Jazza.”

Shaun Kenny-Dowall said he had his fingers crossed that Waerea-Hargreaves will be let off at such a critical time of the year.

“He’s a big part of our team and we’ll be very sad to see him miss a game,” Kenny-Dowall said.

“He’s played so well for us all year and I’d hate to see him miss out on the finals.”

Regardless, the in-form centre believes the Roosters have the depth to fill the void.

“We get Luke O’Donnell back this week and I felt Martin Kennedy really stood up to play in that role as a front-rower,” he said.

“So we’ve got some depth, but losing Jared – he’s been one of our key performers all year. It’ll be tough without him.”