Parramatta's Nathan Brown faces ban over ugly shoulder charge

Parramatta firebrand Nathan Brown won't play again before the finals unless he overturns a charge for his ugly hit on Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

Brown was on Friday hit with a grade two shoulder charge offence, which will see him miss two games if he takes an early guilty plea.

That will see him return for the first week of the finals, ruling him out of Parramatta's assault on the top four.

If he elects to fight the charge and fails, he would miss a third match and mean his season could rest in the hands of Parramatta's performances.

Watene-Zelezniak left the field for six minutes during Canterbury's upset 12-6 win, after he was hit hard and illegally after passing.

Canterbury coach Dean Pay held fears after the match he had suffered an AC joint injury in his shoulder.

The incident proved a flashpoint with Dogs skipper Josh Jackson grabbing the Eels No.13, as he was being spoken to by referee Grant Atkins, and setting off an all-in push-and-shove.

"F---ing w---er! F---ing late," Jackson yelled at Brown before the melee kicked off and other teammates rushed in.

Atkins was furious at both players after everyone cooled down.

"That then was all under control," Atkins said.

"Your actions by walking over made that considerably worse."

Jackson cheekily argued that he was "allowed to express an opinion".

With the NRL vowing to crack down on shoulder charges and late hits, Brown appears likely to land in hot water.

Brown was sin-binned for 10 minutes but he's facing a significant ban should he be charged by the match review committee.

Under the judiciary code, a grade one shoulder charge carries a base penalty of two games and a grade two a three-game suspension.

"I haven't had a real close look at it, but I thought his arm was away from his body," Eels coach Brad Arthur said after the game.

Bulldogs coach Pay said Brown was lucky not to be sent off given Reimis Smith was sin-binned for thrusting his head at Maika Sivo, an incident he said paled in comparison.

"If Reimis got 10 minutes, there's a big difference in it," Pay said.

He also suggested that Brown had been rushing out of the line all night attempting to put a shot on his players.

"He was having a go all night, he was consistent," Pay said.

Smith and teammate Wil Hopoate later jokingly explained his headbutt on Sivo to Brad Fittler in Nine's post-game show.

"He was just trying to give him a Hongi," Hopoate said.

"Yeh, I was just trying to give him a Hongi, that's all," Smith said, referring to the traditional New Zealand Maori greeting.

- with AAP