Roosters star Fetalaiga Pauga cops hefty ban for ugly high shot: ‘That’s a bad one!’
- Pauga gets a four-match ban for his nasty high tackle
- The high shot gave Connor Tracey a concussion
- Tracey will now serve 11 days due to a concussion
The Sydney Roosters could be forced to select a sixth-choice replacement at center after the NRL came down hard on Fetalaiga Pauga.
Sent off for his high shot on Canterbury fullback Connor Tracey in the Roosters’ 26-8 win on Saturday night, Pauga was hit with a grade two reckless high-tackle strike on Sunday.
After suffering concussion from the hit, Tracey will miss the Bulldogs’ game with Cronulla on Thursday.
The charges against Pauga are the same as those his Roosters teammate Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii faced after State of Origin I earlier this month, and will result in a four-match ban.
Fetalaiga Pauga (pictured) will spend a month on the sidelines after his high shot on Bulldogs player Connor Tracey
That would increase to five games if Pauga tries to get the charges reduced and fails in the judiciary.
“That’s direct contact to the head and he’s going to leave the field here, that’s a swinging arm,” NRL great Mick Ennis said on commentary.
“That’s a bad one.”
Roosters coach Trent Robinson was also unimpressed by the incident after the match.
“It wasn’t good,” he said.
‘It’s not nice to see a player leave like that. It was tough, we don’t want that in our game from both sides.
‘It’s disappointing. He’s having a bit of a hard time there, Junior (Pauga).
“There are things to work on there on the field with that tackle(s) and then you have to make sure he doesn’t take it to heart for too long.”
Tracey (pictured) will miss the Bulldogs’ game against Cronulla on Thursday
The Sydney Roosters star has been hit with a class two reckless high tackle
In better news for the Roosters, halfback Sam Walker could be fined $1000 and avoid a ban for his high tackle on Bulldogs center Jacob Kiraz.
Pauga’s impending suspension couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Roosters and their depleted backline.
Suaalii has two games left for his chance at Reece Walsh in Origin I, and will miss games against Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra.
Billy Smith is out indefinitely with an ankle problem, while Michael Jennings remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
England winger Lewis Murphy is out with a scaphoid fracture, while Robert Toia is still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament tear he suffered last year.
Rugby Australia has denied any chance of Mark Nawaqanitawase joining the Roosters, despite the code-switching winger not being named in the Wallabies squad for upcoming tests against Wales and Georgia.
It means coach Trent Robinson will likely have to call on an uncapped man in the backline over the next two weeks, or ask a forward to play out of position in the centres.
Six other players have been charged for Saturday’s matches, but all could avoid suspensions and pay fines.
They include Warriors five-eighth Te Maire Martin and Gold Coast playmaker Jayden Campbell, who were each on the report for hip-drop tackles.