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Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona.

It was a mixed night for Melbourne at the judiciary with Nelson Asofa-Solomona copping a one-match ban for contrary conduct while Reimis Smith was cleared to play after having a high tackle charge downgraded.

After deciding that Smith's shot on Titans prop Jaimin Jolliffe was only worthy of a grade-one charge, the panel of Sean Garlick, Ben Creagh and Tony Puletua deliberated for about four minutes before finding Asofa-Solomona guilty.

The hulking Kiwi prop, who will now miss Sunday's clash with the Warriors at Gosford, was found to have used his right leg to make contact with Joseph Vuna's head in the Storm's win over the Titans last weekend.

NRL prosecutor Peter McGrath successfully argued the 52nd-minute act was deliberate.

He claimed that Asofa-Solomona, vexed at Vuna's attempts to slow down his play-the-ball, ended up "using [Vuna's head] as a sort of pillow to lean on" as he "knelt".

While McGrath said the act was "done with complete awareness of the situation", Asofa-Solomona's lawyer Nick Ghabar told the panel the contact was "totally incidental".

Ghabar's case was that Vuna put himself in an awkward position by using clear spoiling tactics and that "fairness needs to be asked in relation to both players".

Asofa-Solomona would have been suspended for one match even if he took the early guilty plea – with 20 percent loading applied for a non-similar incident in the past two years – so it was worth gambling at the judiciary.

Smith was in a similar situation in that he would have received a two-game ban whether he entered an early guilty plea or had his initial grade-two charge upheld by the panel.

Instead, he got away with a $1600 fine.

The former Bulldog landed himself in trouble after being sin-binned for his 67th-minute hit on Jolliffe, who was on his way to the turf at the point of impact after bouncing away from Trent Loiero's attempted tackle.

"One of the very important elements is that whilst player Jolliffe was dropping he was still going forward," Ghabar said.

"He loses [traction with] his right leg and he stumbles forward into the contact.

"Frankly, if he hasn't fallen at least a foot and a half, he's fallen a significant amount in that fraction of a second.

"[It was] a very fast and a very substantial drop in player Jolliffe's head height."

However, NRL prosecutor Peter McGrath posited that Smith had ample time to consider his tackling method because he was "about a metre" behind Loiero.

He submitted there was "moderate force" and that Smith "clenched his fist" and swung his arm in an upward motion.

The Storm named Smith to start in the centres on Tuesday afternoon but they'll now need to elevate a reserve to replace Asofa-Solomona.

Both players appeared before the judiciary via video link.

Knights pair Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Sauaso Sue both took early guilty pleas to charges arising from their loss to Parramatta on Sunday.

Sue has been fined $1150 for a dangerous contact charge while Fitzgibbon was fined the same amount for a careless high tackle on Waqa Blake.

Asofa-Solomona charged twice

Titans centre Patrick Herbert was handed a grade-one dangerous contact charge for an incident in the loss to Melbourne.

Panthers backs Robert Jennings and Dylan Edwards and Wests Tigers duo Moses Mbye and James Roberts all received fines after being charged over incidents in Friday night's match at Leichhardt Oval.

Jennings received a grade-one careless high tackle charge for contact on Wests Tigers forward Luciano Leilua which resulted in a penalty try, while Edwards received a grade-one contrary conduct charge for his involvement in a melee shortly after half-time.

Mbye and Roberts were charged with grade-one contrary conduct charges, Mbye from a tackle on Stephen Crichton and Roberts for his role in the melee.

Brisbane rookie TC Robati was the one player charged from Thursday night's match between the Dragons and Broncos.

Robati, who was playing in his second NRL match, has received a $1350 fine after being issued a grade-one careless high tackle charge for a 45th-minute incident involving Dragons forward Poasa Faamausili.

 

Name Nelson Asofa-Solomona
Club Storm
Time Minute of Match 52nd
Charge/Incident Contrary Conduct
Charge Grade 1
Result - Guilty or not guilty Guilty at panel
Matches to serve 1
Points/fine calculation 170
Carry-over Points 70
Misconduct on whom? Joseph Vuna

 

Name Reimis Smith
Club Storm
Time Minute of Match 67th
Charge/Incident High Tackle - Careless
Charge Grade 2
Result - Guilty or not guilty Downgraded to 1 at judiciary
Matches to serve 0
Points/fine calculation $1600
Carry-over Points N/A
Misconduct on whom? Jaimin Jolliffe

 

Name Sauaso Sue
Club Knights
Time Minute of Match 67th
Charge/Incident Dangerous Contact - Other
Charge Grade 1
Result - Guilty or not guilty Guilty - early plea
Matches to serve 0
Points/fine calculation $1150
Carry-over points  N/A
Misconduct on whom? Reed Mahoney

 

Name Lachlan Fitzgibbon
Club Knights
Time Minute of Match 27th
Charge/Incident High Tackle - Careless
Charge Grade 1
Result - Guilty or not guilty Guilty - early plea
Matches to serve 0
Points/fine calculation $1150
Carry-over points N/A
Misconduct on whom? Waqa Blake

 

Name Teui Robati
Club Broncos
Time Minute of Match 45th
Charge/Incident High tackle - Careless
Charge Grade 1
Result Guilty - early plea
Matches to serve 0
Points/Fine calculation $1350
Carry-over Points N/A
Misconduct on whom? Poasa Faamausili

 

 

Name Moses Mbye
Club Tigers
Time Minute of Match 34th
Charge/Incident Contrary conduct
Charge Grade 1
Result Guilty - early plea
Matches to serve 0
Points/Fine calculation $1150
Carry-over Points N/A
Misconduct on whom? Stephen Crichton

 

 

Name James Roberts
Club Tigers
Time Minute of Match 46th
Charge/Incident Contrary conduct
Charge Grade 1
Result Guilty - early plea
Matches to serve 0
Points/Fine calculation $1350
Carry-over Points N/A
Misconduct on whom? Melee

 

 

Name Dylan Edwards
Club Panthers
Time Minute of Match 47th
Charge/Incident Contrary conduct
Charge Grade 1
Result Guilty - early plea
Matches to serve 0
Points/Fine calculation $1700
Carry-over Points N/A
Misconduct on whom? Melee

 

Name Robert Jennings
Club Panthers
Time Minute of Match 66th
Charge/Incident High tackle - careless
Charge Grade 1
Result Guilty - early plea
Matches to serve 0
Points/Fine calculation $1350
Carry-over Points N/A
Misconduct on whom? Luciano Leilua

 

 

Name Nelson Asofa-Solomona
Club Storm
Time Minute of Match 5th
Charge/Incident High tackle - careless
Charge Grade 1
Result Guilty - early plea
Matches to serve 0
Points/Fine calculation $1900
Carry-over Points N/A
Misconduct on whom? Jayden Campbell

 

 

Name Patrick Herbert
Club Titans
Time Minute of Match 24th
Charge/Incident Dangerous contact - other
Charge Grade 1
Result Guilty - early plea
Matches to serve 0
Points/Fine calculation $1150
Carry-over Points N/A
Misconduct on whom? Kenny Bromwich

 

Acknowledgement of Country

Melbourne Storm respect and honour the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.