Manly winger Lehi Hopoate has been charged by the NRL match committee over a collision with referee Grant Atkins in his side’s win over Wests Tigers on Saturday.
The 21-year-old was in pursuit of a Jamal Fogarty bomb during the first half of the Sea Eagles’ 46-18 victory when he ran into the back of the whistle-blower.
The contact sent Atkins tumbling to the Suncorp Stadium turf.
Hopoate, who was put on report by the referee, was hit with a grade-two contrary conduct charge on Sunday and will be suspended for a game with an early guilty plea.
He stands to be banned for two matches if he contests the charge at the judiciary and loses.
Manly were on Sunday weighing up whether to push for a downgrade, believing the contact with Atkins to have been accidental.
There were eyebrows raised at the resurgent club at the grading, given that Brisbane hooker Cory Paix escaped a charge for a tackle in which Manly forward Siosiua Taukeiaho’s leg was broken a week earlier.
The Sea Eagles requested that the ARL Commission use its special powers to overturn that decision, but their bid was unsuccessful.
Hopoate also featured in another incident that came to the attention of the match review committee.
Tigers centre Patrick Herbert received a grade-two dangerous tackle charge for a head slam on the winger in the 46th minute.
He will be suspended for two games with an early guilty plea and three games if his case is thrown out at the judiciary.
It shapes as another setback for the depleted Tigers, who have been without a handful of their best players through injury and suspension and have let in 142 points in the past three weeks.
Herbert also copped a separate grade-one charge for a grapple tackle on Manly back-rower Ben Trbojevic, but faces an $1800 fine rather than time on the sideline for that tackle.
Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
