'I hate that': Cowboys' Karl Lawton banned over tackle that left Andrew Johns seething

Cowboys hooker Karl Lawton has been hit with a two-match suspension for a dangerous tackle on Roosters back-rower Siua Wong on Sunday, which left rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns fuming and calling for change.

As the third man in during the clash at Allianz Stadium, won by the Roosters 42-8, Lawton took Wong around the legs and forced his left leg into an awkward position.

Wong's afternoon was ended in the 19th minute of the match and the Tongan Test forward could be set for a lengthy stint on the sideline.

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Renowned physiotherapist Brien Seeney, known as 'NRL Physio' on social media, said Wong had probably suffered an MCL injury and would likely be set for a "multi-week recovery".

On Monday, the NRL's match review committee dealt Lawton a grade-three dangerous contact charge and offered the Cowboys rake a two-game ban.

Lawton, who had no prior offence on record, will serve three games on the sideline if he fights the charge at the judiciary and loses.

Referee Ashley Klein didn't blow a penalty for Lawton's tackle.

There's also an injury cloud hanging over Roosters five-eighth Sandon Smith, who left the field with a knee issue in the 55th minute and didn't return.

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The playmaker pulled up injured after being tackled by Braidon Burns during a Roosters play that resulted in a James Tedesco try.

"I hate that third man in, absolutely hate it," Nine's Johns said of Lawton's tackle on Wong.

"For mine, if you've got two players in the tackle and momentum's pretty much [stopped], that third man shouldn't be allowed to go in like that."

Johns recalled the horror tackle that ended Liam Knight's 2022 season in July, when Solomone Naiduki crashed into his right leg as the third man in during a NSW Cup game.

Knight ruptured his ACL in the incident and Naiduki received a three-game suspension, which then-Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou said was too lenient a punishment.

"A couple of years ago, Liam Knight, we saw him get hit behind with one of those. It pretty much destroyed every ligament in his knee," Johns said.

"The player cannot see him coming, and what's come into the game is they back into the tackle to look for that third man coming in so they can see him spearing at the knee, and what's happened with that habit is we've got crushers in the game because of players turning and twisting and looking for that third man.

"It's dangerous. I hate it."