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North Queensland skipper Jason Taumalolo and Cowboys forward Lachlan Burr are both facing a fortnight on the sidelines for high shots in Thursday's NRL win.

North Queensland captain Jason Taumalolo is facing a two-week suspension after being charged with a careless high tackle in Thursday night's NRL win.

The Cowboys star was sin-binned for a high shot on Newcastle forward Tyson Frizell in the first half and has been hit with a grade two charge by the NRL's Match Review Committee.

The 36-20 victory over the Knights in Townsville could be costly for the Cowboys over the next fortnight with forward Lachlan Burr also facing two weeks on the sidelines.

Burr was put on report and also sent to the sin bin just five minutes after Taumalolo for his hit on hooker Jayden Brailey.

He was handed a grade one careless high tackle charge and could have avoided suspension if not for two previous similar incidents within the past two years, adding 50 per cent loading to the penalty.

Both Taumalolo and Burr can have their bans reduced to one week with an early guilty plea, meaning they would miss just next week's clash with the Warriors and be free to return after the bye to play Manly.

The two charges for high shots follows a week of controversy for the NRL, with the crackdown on head or neck contact resulting in a record number of sin bins and send-offs in round 10.

Following Magic Round there was a whopping 24 charges handed down by the MRC - the most in the NRL era - which smashed a record 14 from round 9.

While both Burr and Taumalolo were in the sin bin on Thursday night the Knights scored two tries before the Cowboys ran away with the result.

Coach Todd Payten said the crackdown is making games more lopsided, but players and coaches have to find a way to move on.

"I'm not going to give that any energy at all," he said when asked about the two sin bins on Thursday night.

"All my focus is how we're going to deal with it moving forward. It is what it is.

"Players are going to have to work harder and harder and harder.

"We've just got to move forward."