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Tevita Pangai is at risk of missing six NRL games for dangerous contact on Justin O'Neill, with his horror judiciary record coming back to haunt him.

Brisbane forward Tevita Pangai faces his fourth ban in the space of a year, and up to six games on the sidelines, for dangerous contact on North Queensland centre Justin O'Neill.

Pangai has been hit with grade-two dangerous contact charge for the late shot, after he connected with O'Neill's head in the early minutes of Friday's win.

The incident angered Cowboys players, given O'Neill was about to get up from the ground after taking a hit, when Pangai hit him hard with his bicep.

If he pleads guilty to the charge, he will miss four matches - double the minimum sanction because of his poor judiciary record.

If he fights it at the judiciary and loses, he would miss an extra two games and won't be able to return until round eight.

The 24-year-old missed the last four games of 2019 for a late crusher tackle on James Maloney.

He was also suspended for a late shot on Cooper Cronk last April and for a high tackle on Phillip Sami in July.

The Tongan international representative claimed during the pre-season that those bans had been "unlucky", and that he did not need to curb his aggression.

"I thought two of them were unlucky ... (they) were high speed, high intensity - it's a fast game and sometimes things go wrong," he said in January.

"I know where the line is but obviously if I go out not wanting to tackle then we are not going to win the game - we've got to tackle hard.

"I just want to make big plays and inspire my teammates. That's what I feel I can bring and that's what I try to do."

Any suspension will also come as a serious blow to a Broncos pack already stretched to the limit.

Joe Ofahengaue still has another match to serve on his suspension after he was disqualified from driving in February, while Matt Lodge's season has been destroyed by a knee injury.

Skipper Alex Glenn is also battling a hamstring injury, meaning Brisbane had to blood Jamil Hopoate and Herbie Fenworth from the bench on Friday night.