St George Illawarra prop Francis Molo is set to miss up to four games after being charged by the NRL with his fourth offence in the space of a year.
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Molo was on Monday handed a grade-two careless high tackle charge for his hit on Moeaki Fotuaika in the Dragons loss to the Gold Coast.
The two-time Queensland State of Origin prop would ordinarily be able to accept a one-game ban, but that now balloons out to three matches with an early guilty plea, given his record.
If he attempts to fight the charge and fails, he will miss a fourth match.
It comes after Molo was suspended for four games at the end of last season for a similar high shot and could not return until round four of this year.
The Dragons will also be frustrated by the $2500 fine handed down to Jaydn Su'A for a hip-drop tackle in the 20-18 loss.
Su'A was penalised and put on report on field for the contact on Gold Coast halfback Tanah Boyd, but the Dragons were adamant afterwards that Su'A had little choice but to make the tackle.
"It's a tough one. When you are chasing a bloke down from behind, there is obviously no intent in it," captain Ben Hunt said.
"He is just trying to get the bloke to the ground.
"I understand it is dangerous and blokes are getting hurt from it, but I don't know how else blokes are meant to get them down."
The hip-drop issue has become the prominent talking point in the game in recent weeks, with Canterbury rookie Jacob Preston sin-binned but not charged after being accused of one in his side's loss to South Sydney on Friday.
Newcastle utility Phoenix Crossland also escaped sanction on Monday, after suggestions the tackle that left Warriors five-eighth Te Maire Martin with a suspected fractured fibula was a hip-drop.
Dragons coach Anthony Griffin said the game was struggling to properly understand the tackle.
"It's something as a game we have to get some certainty about," Griffin said.
"Because accidents happen when you have people with a lot of power and the way the game is played these days.
"With the tackle technique, you're not allowed to tackle around the legs any more. So there are a lot of people hanging onto bodies and waists, and things like that.
"It's an issue for the whole game to get right.
"We've always struggled with it, for the last two or three years.
"They're not intentional. Sometimes people haven't got a decision to make at the time whether they fall that way or not."
Titans prop Tino Fa'asuamaleaui was not charged for dangerous contact from his arm on Tyrell Sloan after a tackle, after it left the Dragons fullback with a bloodied eyebrow.
The incident prompted a melee between the two teams, before the Titans were awarded a penalty and kicked two points clear before half time.
Australian Associated Press
