Casey McLean of the Penrith Panthers is facing a one-match suspension following a high tackle that resulted in a broken jaw for Canterbury's Max King.
During the first half of the Bulldogs' 32-16 victory on Thursday, McLean was sin-binned and subsequently charged with a grade-two careles high tackle on Friday.
The sin-bin decision was made retroactively, with referee Gerard Sutton halting the game and sending the young Panther off for a 10-minute period several plays later.
Penrith's coach, Ivan Cleary, expressed his initial thoughts, saying, "My initial thoughts were based around the pub test where none of the players see it or feel it."
He added, "It might have been shoulder then head and a bit of whiplash … there's not much vision so it's hard to say."
As it stands, Cleary could be without the 19-year-old McLean for the Panthers' upcoming match against the Dolphins in Darwin next week.
If McLean agrees to an early guilty plea, he will be sidelined for one week. However, he risks an additional suspension if he contests the charge and is unsuccessful at the NRL judiciary.
Any chance of an appeal is likely to be hindered by the revelation of King's injury.
The dependable prop for Canterbury is set to undergo surgery due to the incident, occurring just as the Bulldogs appeared to be regaining momentum.