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Brooks, Gagai cop NRL striking charges

3 minute read

Luke Brooks and Dane Gagai will both miss one NRL game if they take early guilty pleas for their roles in a fiery brawl in Wests Tigers' loss to South Sydney.

DANE GAGAI
DANE GAGAI Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Luke Brooks and Dane Gagai have both been issued with grade one striking charges and face a suspension until the NRL finals for throwing punches in Wests Tigers' fiery 26-24 loss to South Sydney.

Brooks and Gagai both found themselves in the sin bin during a dramatic second half on Thursday night, with Brooks landing a blow to the South Sydney winger's face.

Gagai was also given a spell after referee Ben Cummins accused him of landing a punch, as Brooks emerged from a brawl with a shiner below his right eye.

The pair were both charged with grade one striking offence by the match review committee on Friday, a penalty that carries a 200-point - or two game - punishment.

Gagai accrued another 40 points due o a 20 per cent loading for a non-similar offence in the last two years.

Both players can whittle that down to one game with an early guilty plea, allowing Gagai a one-game run into finals and Brooks another game before the Tigers' season wraps up.

"They got one (punch) each, it was square," Tigers coach Michael Maguire said.

"It's one of those ones that can happen any time. There was a bit of heat there and was part of what made the game."

Rabbitohs star Latrell Mitchell was handed a two-game ban for a grade-two striking offence earlier this year, in another bitter clash between the two sides.

On that occasion, the South Sydney fullback had struck Josh Reynolds' head after he accidentally kicked Mitchell's Rabbitohs teammate Campbell Graham.

If Brooks was to cop a similar ban, coach Michael Maguire would likely have to make a decision between recalling Reynolds or moving Adam Doueihi to halfback.

Maguire has further concerns after forward Alex Twal was hit with a grade one dangerous contact charge and faces a one-match ban unless he takes an early plea.

That's on top of the Tigers' injury worries.

Maguire is unsure if Moses Mbye will recover from a knee injury or Joey Leilua an ankle problem, after both their centres on Thursday afternoon were ruled out of the loss to Souths.

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