NRL: Raiders' Joey Leilua charged for knee drop on Manly's Reuben Garrick
Canberra centre Joey Leilua could being rubbed out for the rest of the NRL regular season after being charged by the match review committee.
Leilua has been charged with dropping his knees into Manly's Reuben Garrick, an incident for which cost his side an eight-point try in the Sea Eagles' dramatic 18-14 win on Sunday.
He has been hit with a grade one dropping knee charge and will miss two matches regardless of whether he enters an early guilty plea or is found guilty at the judiciary.
Leilua's only hope of turning out before the finals is if he successfully takes his case to the judiciary.
Leilua's knee-drop on Garrick Fox
He was sent to the sin bin for the incident with coach Ricky Stuart conceding the referees were justified in marching him for 10 minutes.
"I think it's justified. I have spoken to BJ. I do think it was justified," Stuart said.
"(It was a) massive momentum shift towards Manly. Trying to swing that momentum back is difficult.
"There were passages of play we were trying to take the easy option more than get in the gutter with them and fight."
The incident was the first eight-point try in the NRL since Brisbane were awarded one against North Queensland last August.
