Manly Sea Eagles second rower and hooker Karl Lawton has been slapped with a Grade 3 dangerous throw charge for an ugly tackle on South Sydney Rabbitohs' lock forward Cameron Murray which saw him sent off during Friday evening's loss.
Lawton, who played just eight minutes of the game before being dismissed by the match officials for the tackle, found himself in a one-on-one tackle with Murray who ended up in a vertical position before rolling to avoid landing directly on his head and neck.
The charge will see Lawton miss four weeks with an early guilty plea, and five if he heads to the judiciary and fights but loses the charge.
Lawton may also go to the judiciary seeking a downgrade for the charge, however, would still risk the heftier five-week penalty if he failed to convince the judiciary it wasn't a Grade 3 charge.
Coach Des Hasler said at his post-match press conference that there would be consequences to pay, while only suggesting the decision to send the edge forward off could have been "disputed."
"It's not a good one," Hasler said.
"He is such a hard worker, he plays the game at pace and he has such a nice temperament, so there was certainly no malice in the tackle, but at the same time, there will be some consequences to face on the tackle.
"Would you send him or would you sin bin him? Yeah, I thought maybe a decision could have been disputed there, but either way, he wasn't going to stay on the field, so we will leave the judiciary to judge that one now."
The charge means Lawton will, should he accept the early guilty plea, miss matches in the coming weeks against the Wests Tigers, Brisbane Broncos, Parramatta Eels and Melbourne Storm, before being likely to return against the New Zealand Warriors.
He will be replaced directly by Haumole Olakau'atu, who returns from his suspension next week.
The Sea Eagles and Lawton will reveal their decision on whether to fight the charge or accept the NRL's offer of an early guilty plea by midday tomorrow.
