The NRL judiciary report from Magic Round arrived on Monday evening with one of the longer charge sheets of the season. Two suspensions, one heading to Tuesday night's tribunal, and another sitting at a 3rd-and-subsequent-offence price tag that could become a two-match ban. The headline is the Manly winger Lehi Hopoate, who chest-bumped referee Grant Atkins while chasing a bomb in Saturday's 46-18 loss to the Tigers and earned a Grade 2 Contrary Conduct charge. He has been suspended for one match. He will miss Round 12 against the Titans. The other suspension is the Wests Tigers centre Patrick Herbert, banned for two matches after a head slam on Hopoate in the second half. Herbert also copped a second Grade 1 Dangerous Contact charge that came with an $1,800 fine.
Hopoate One, Herbert Two, Riki Facing Two
Hopoate's contact with Atkins was at the centre of the late-night discussion on Saturday. The Grade 2 grading meant a one-week sit-down with the early plea, and Manly accepted the ban. Herbert's head slam on Hopoate happened minutes into the second half. With an early guilty plea on the Dangerous Contact charge, he gets two weeks, plus the second-charge fine. Manly hit the bye in Round 12, then face the Titans in Round 13, so Hopoate's one-week sit-down lines up with a fixture they will fancy. The Broncos forward Preston Riki is the other Tuesday-night story. Riki was charged with Grade 1 Dangerous Contact in Sunday's 42-12 loss to the Warriors, his third and subsequent offence of the year. The early-plea price is a $3,000 fine. If he fights and loses, he sits out two matches. The Broncos travel to Newcastle in Round 12 and Riki is a regular starter in the front-row rotation.
The Fine Tally and Tuesday Night
Knights veteran Dane Gagai fronts the judiciary on Tuesday night to fight a Grade 1 Dangerous Contact charge on AJ Brimson, the second offence of his year. The early-plea fine was $1,800. A guilty verdict on Tuesday night lifts that to $2,500. Other Magic Round fines: Arama Hau (Titans) $1,000 for Tripping; Tigers pair Terrell May and Jock Madden plus Cowboys forward Matt Lodge $750 each for Careless High Tackle; Tom Chester (Cowboys) $1,800 for Dangerous Contact; Connor Tracey (Bulldogs) $750 for a high tackle on Ronaldo Mulitalo Friday night; Campbell Graham (Souths) $750 for Tripping; Dragons pair Luciano Leilua $1,800 (2nd offence) and Loko Pasifiki Tonga $1,500 (Shoulder Charge); Alofiana Khan-Pereira (Warriors) $1,000. Forty-one weeks now bank-rolled against the comp for the year, with the season's running fine tally close to $90,000 and 17 individual suspensions.
Where the Markets Land
The Manly side that copped a 46-18 belting from the Tigers had already drifted in finals markets, and Hopoate's one-game ban is not the prop that moves the price. Riki's potential two-week absence does change the Broncos' Round 12 line in Newcastle, which our reviewed bookmakers dabble, Ladbrokes and Picklebet have at Knights -3.5 with Riki named. Take Riki out and the Knights drift toward -6.5. Wests Tigers without Herbert for two weeks travel to the Sharks in Round 12 and the Sharks line stretches to -10.5 from -7.5 on the back of the Herbert news. Top tryscorer markets are unaffected. The other side of the ledger: Saturday-night NRL judiciary charges with Tuesday-night tribunal verdicts have a clean recent record of upholding the original grade, which has Maroons backers nervously watching whether Gagai's loss tightens the Knights' Round 12 line further. Full list of charges and tribunal coverage via ABC Sport.