Wests Tigers' prop Justin Matamua has avoided a charge for dangerous contact on Mitchell Moses during his debut at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday evening.
The news on Matamua came after he was sent to the sin bin for the high contact leading with the shoulder on Moses, who had placed a kick through for the Eels' opening try after the blue and gold fell behind 12 poins to 0 during the opening half hour.
The NRL released an empty charge sheet for the game, despite three players - Matamua, Zane Musgrove and returning Parramatta prop Nathan Brown - all being placed on report.
The shot from Matamua saw Moses place a chip over the kick before Reagan Campbell-Gillard capitalised on a bouncing ball to score, with Matamua then making contact on Moses.
Matamua made no attempt to tackle Moses, instead, colliding directly with his shoulder into the body of Moses, with a dispute the contact also could have been high. Sent to the sin bin, the rookie, who had only been on the field for a handful of minutes, apologised to the crowd on his way off.
Despite the ugliness of the tackle and immediate decision to send him to the sin bin, the Tigers' rookie has escaped a charge on Sunday morning.
Musgrove and Brown also escaped charge.
Tigers' forward Musgrove was placed on report during the opening tackle of the game. Despite Parramatta being ruled to have knocked the ball on in the play the ball through Makahesi Makatoa, a captain's challenge would see the decision reversed to a high tackle, with Musgrove put on report for the play.
Nathan Brown was then later put on report during the second half for a high tackle of his own, although it appeared to be a relatively soft decision from the bunker with the Parramatta forward having little to worry about in the aftermath.
The Eels went on to record a win which will resign the Tigers to the bottom of the ladder once the Gold Coast Titans have bye points added to their total at the conclusion of the round.
