Dragons enforcer Jaydn Su'A admits his frustration and confusion over his NRL sin-binnings and suspension, but the strongest feeling is a desire to make it up to his teammates after St George Illawarra slumped to three straight losses.
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Su'A was dismissed for a 10-minute period - where Penrith piled on 14 points - for a shot on halfback Sean O'Sullivan in round two, then had to cool his heels again for a grade-two careless high tackle on Cronulla captain Dale Finucane.
A one-match ban was the price to pay, missing the Parramatta game, where the Dragons were thrashed 48-14, after copping similar treatment in the 36-12 loss to the Sharks.
Su'A's uncertainty comes from the comparison to Jesse Ramien's grade-one hit on Dragon Jack Gosiewski in the same game, which allowed the Sharks star to avoid suspension.
"It crossed my mind, I'm not going to lie," Su'A said of the difference in match review committee judgement.
"I don't know what to say about that, it's not my decision, it's a decisiom made by the NRL.
"They obviously deemed it to be more forceful and more intent, I can't let the team down again."
Su'A's removal spoiled some early season momentum after beating the Warriors in round one then pushing premiers Penrith despite the numerical disadvantage.
He's used the time off to rest a foot injury, but also consider his tackling technique and timing.
"They're the rules these days," he said.
"The thing that sucked the most is there were other tackles over the past couple of weekends which were similar, if not worse.
"And I guess it's just finding that consistency in suspending players or giving them fines.
"I'm not going to change who I am and the way I play, but I definitely have worked on a few things over the last week or so."
Su'A and the Dragons now have the chance to press the reset button in round five against his former club South Sydney.
Optimism among St George Illawarra fans surged after the pre-season victory over the Rabbitohs, the first time they'd won the Charity Shield in a decade.
"It's only a trial game and it doesn't count for any competition points," Su'A said.
"When we went down to 12 men the last couple of weeks that I was playing, we let a fair few tries in.
"Hopefully it doesn't happen again and we dig in and have a crack this week."
Su'A was excited about another battle with former teammate and Souths playmaker Cody Walker on his edge of the field at Accor Stadium on Saturday.
The 24-year-old will be determined to shut down Walker's attacking raids.
"Me and Cody, we're good mates," he said.
"We had a few running battles when I was at Souths, he was left side and I was right at training.
"He's a competitor, that's what makes him so good and I don't want to be beaten either. I have to be on my toes or he'll carve us up."
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Tim Barrow
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
