Soliola pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous contact before he arrived at NRL headquarters on Tuesday evening and was ultimately handed down a five-week ban after a long hearing, meaning he will available for the Raiders' last match of the season on September 2 at AAMI Park. 

The irony of the verdict, however, is that Soliola will return to play the Storm in round 26.  

"I would like to thank the NRL for giving me a fair hearing," Soliola said afterwards. "It's pretty disappointing losing five weeks but I respect and accept the punishment they have passed on. Apologies to everyone that was affected by this, especially Billy and his family. 

"I know this has put a bad light on our game and I love this game because it's given me so much, so I'm going to do the best I can to reward this game and give it the good image it's supposed to have." 

The Raiders called upon high-profile solicitor Nick Ghabar to defend Soliola after the 30-year-old was referred directly to the judiciary for an ugly hit on Slater that left the Queensland and Kangaroos star unconscious on the turf of GIO Stadium on Saturday night.

Ghabar argued for a three-week suspension, taking into account prior offences and an early plea. 

He said his client accepted there was forceful contact but made the point Slater slipped in the lead-up to being hit. 

The hearing was also told Slater was concussed for two to three minutes and at the time had no recollection of the preceding two weeks, including State of Origin game three. 

Soliola told the hearing there was no malice in the tackle and disagreed that he could have pulled out. 

At the time I didn't think it was late," Soliola said. "I looked at it [later] … and I put my hand up and say it was late.

"I was just thinking to tackle Slater. I tried to get to Billy as quick as I could. I didn't mean to collect him high. He fell into it.

"I was running at a fair pace and that's a very hard thing to do is stop."

The NRL's legal counsel, led by Anthony Lo Surdo, argued for a six-week suspension, saying Soliola had his fist clenched at the point of impact and made a two or three step beeline towards Slater in order to shut him down. 

"Billy Slater had no opportunity to protect himself," Lo Surdo said. "He wasn't expecting to be hit. 

"The contact was severe, it was high. The circumstances show there was a serious risk of injury arising from the tackle. The force was severe. The contact was avoidable."  

Slater has been suffering headaches since the sickening hit and has not been named for the Storm's next match against Manly on Sunday. 

Soliola only had one prior offence in the past two years and while this was acknowledged by the NRL counsel, that didn't stop him from being slapped with a hefty suspension. 

It comes after referees boss Tony Archer made the unusual decision to release a press release shortly after the game saying that Soliola should have been sent from the field. 

Storm prop Jesse Bromwich remains the only player from a group of 13 in the last 15 years to escape suspension after being referred straight to the NRL judiciary. 

Earlier on Tuesday, Storm playmaker Cooper Cronk said he was sickened by the hit and expressed concerns that referees would not send players off when they needed to. 

The only thing I can put it to is if you are in a grand final and you take out one of the leading players in the opposition, knowing there is no send-off offence and know that you will just cop a suspension the next season, then that needs to change," Cronk said. 

"You can't do that, can't physically go out and hurt someone to take them out of the game but I think everything is in place, it just comes down to the actual adjudication."