Jacob Saifiti's NRL season appears nearly finished after the Newcastle prop received a four-game suspension for a high tackle on Warriors winger Luke Laulilii.
Saifiti was dismissed during the first half of Sunday's 46-32 loss in Auckland, and the NRL's match review committee charged him with a grade two reckless high tackle on Monday morning.
The Knights have a bye in the last round of the regular season, meaning Saifiti's suspension will only take effect during their first finals match.
Currently in seventh place, Newcastle will enter an elimination final in week one, but even if they pull off an unexpected victory and make it to the grand final, the Fijian prop will still be sidelined due to the suspension.
Saifiti's only chance of playing again this NRL season relies on contesting the charge at the judiciary on Tuesday to potentially lessen his punishment.
If he chooses to contest the suspension and fails, he could face an additional week on top of his four-game ban.
In other news, Cronulla prop Tom Hazelton will miss Cronulla's last regular-season match against Melbourne after being cited for a hip-drop tackle on Ronald Volkman.
Hazelton was sin-binned by referee Ashley Klein late in Sunday's defeat to Parramatta, but with an early guilty plea, he will serve a one-game suspension and be available for the first week of the finals series.