South Sydney linchpin Cody Walker could miss two games after being charged for striking Canterbury's Nick Meaney in their Good Friday NRL win.
Although it went unpunished at the time, replays showed Walker stepping on the ankle of Bulldogs forward Corey Waddell in a tackle, and also dropping his shoulder into the back of fullback Meaney's head in the first half.
Walker also sparked a melee with half-an-hour to play when he tossed Bulldogs halfback Kyle Flanagan to the ground after an aggressive tackle.
Mal Meninga described Walker's act on Meaney as "deliberate" in Fox Sports commentary while his coach Wayne Bennett said he didn't see the incident but joked Walker had taken "the angry pills" before the game.
The in-form five-eighth will miss Thursday's game against Brisbane if he pleads guilty, or risk a two-game ban if he opts to challenge the charge.
Walker's teammate Keaon Koloamatangi will miss at least two games for a crusher tackle on Will Hopoate at the end of the first half.
And Brisbane's woes have worsened with workhorse forward Patrick Carrigan facing one or two weeks out - if he opts to fight the charge but fails - no thanks to his crusher tackle on Melbourne's Christian Welch.
Kept scoreless for a third-straight week, Canterbury were spared more torment with firebrand forward Jack Hetherington escaping any charge despite being reported for a crusher tackle on Cameron Murray.
It was a fiery night for Hetherington who was also penalised on the ensuing set for an attempted shoulder charge that did not connect with Mark Nicholls.
"(Murray) popped his head through there in that crusher, it wasn't a crusher," his coach Trent Barrett said after the 38-0 loss.
"It was pretty clear that he did get his head back through, and then the shoulder-charge penalty he didn't even touch him.
"There's a few things going against us and it is difficult at the moment, but we've just got to stick together and keep working hard."
