Sydney Roosters forward Jared Waerea-Hargreaves has been found guilty of a high tackle at the NRL judiciary.
Waerea-Hargreaves was slapped with a Grade 2 careless high tackle charge for a shot during Sunday's heavy win over the St George Illawarra Dragons.
Despite on-field protests at the time from both the forward and his captain, fullback James Tedesco, referee Ashley Klein after consultation with Grant Atkins in the bunker elected to send Waerea-Hargreaves to the sin bin for ten minutes for the shot on outside back Max Feagai.
Waerea-Hargreaves could have accepted a three-match ban with an early guilty plea, but instead elected to fight the grading of the charge at the judiciary and will instead face four games on the sideline.
BREAKING: @sydneyroosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves has been found GUILTY at judiciary
Misses FOUR MATCHES. Ouuuch๐๐
— christian nicolussi (@mrchrisnico) July 9, 2024
That run of games will start after this weekend's bye, with the Roosters to play the Melbourne Storm (away), Manly Sea Eagles (home), the Dolphins (away) and Parramatta Eels (home) after another bye.
The two byes during Waerea-Hargreaves' stint on the sidelines means he won't play again until Round 25 when the Roosters travel north to face the Gold Coast Titans.
The long absence is far from ideal from the Roosters, who currently sit in third place on the NRL ladder, just ahead of the logjam in the middle of the table.
Should they have a successful finish to the season, then, with two byes in hand, it's extraordinarily difficult to see the tri-colours not finishing in the top four.
Waerea-Hargreaves has been strong this year in what is his final season as a Rooster, with the forward, who is now the club's record all-time games holder, heading to England at the end of the season.
