Reuben Cotter is set to miss North Queensland's last two games before State of Origin after being charged for a high tackle.
All eyes had been on how the NRL would police high tackles at Magic Round after 18 sin bins last weekend.
While the league's match review committee and on-field referees were on the same page for the first four games of the weekend, Cotter was not sin-binned for his shot but has now received a grade-two careless high-tackle charge.
Cotter went on report for his high shot on Marata Niukore ahead of the Warriors' first try in their 30-26 win on Saturday night.
But the Cowboys co-captain was not penalised on-field, despite the shot looming as the most serious of the weekend so far.
With an early guilty plea, Cotter will miss clashes against Penrith and Manly, the Cowboys' last two games before Billy Slater names his Queensland team for the Origin series opener.
Former Wally Lewis Medallist Cotter had been expected to feature, but he would head into the game on May 28 having not played in almost a month, leaving Slater with a decision to make.
In the highly unlikely event he opts to fight the charge at the judiciary, Cotter would risk missing Origin I altogether, given his suspension would be increased by one game.
The Cowboys will draw strength from their ability to beat the Panthers without Cotter earlier in the season, with the lock missing that game in Sydney through illness.
