Supercoach Wayne Bennett's hopes of avoiding his first wooden spoon have taken another hit, with South Sydney star Jack Wighton handed a four-game ban at the NRL judiciary.
Wighton on Tuesday night failed in his bid to overturn a grade-two shoulder charge citing over a head clash that knocked out Cronulla prop Toby Rudolf on Saturday.
A second subsequent push to downgrade the charge to a level-one and two-match suspension was also unsuccessful.
It means Wighton won't play for the last-placed Rabbitohs until their final-round clash with the Sydney Roosters, potentially handing Lewis Dodd a reprieve in the halves.
"We had a fair hearing and thought we had a good case," Wighton said afterwards.
"We didn't get the result we wanted. I'll turn all my attention to preparing my teammates and helping everyone in the club the best way I can for now."
Wighton took the unusual step of remaining silent through the 75-minute hearing, opting not to give evidence to the panel of Bob Lindner and Greg McCallum on Tuesday night.
Instead, the former NSW star relied on evidence given by his lawyer, as well as a referee's report in which Wighton told Belinda Sharpe he couldn't get his arm out to wrap it around Rudolf.
Wighton's lawyer Nick Ghabar pointed to a Cronulla medical report, which said Rudolf had suffered a concussion from a head-to-head contact.
Ghabar also claimed it had been Rudolf who generated the force in the tackle, by leading into it with his head, arm and the ball.
In turn, Ghabar said that Wighton had merely been attempting to avoid a head clash, after initially preparing for a conventional tackle.
"Wighton was setting up for a right-shoulder tackle, Rudolf runs at right shoulder. But he takes a move very violently back to the left," Ghabar said.
"There is almost inevitably going to be a head clash if Wighton doesn't try and dip his torso. He dips and props to the left.
"There ended up being an unfortunate head clash. Had he remained in upright position there would have been a more violent head-on-head."
Ghabar also said the fact Wighton hadn't given evidence and was relying on what he said to Sharpe showed he was not inventing a defence - a point the NRL's counsel Patrick Knowles countered.
"Why is Mr Ghabar giving evidence of that?" Knowles said.
"Wighton could have given evidence of that, if there was no option available to him in his mind other than performing a tackle in the way he did.
"That could have been the subject of questioning in exit."
Judiciary chairman Geoff Bellew reminded the panel Wighton did not have to prove his innocence.
Knowles also said this was a "textbook example" of a shoulder charge, given Wighton had twisted his body and tucked in his right arm before making contact.
"There was an aspect of the contact that was head-on-head," Knowles said.
"But it's not correct to say the head-on-head contact was the only or primary forceful contact.
"If a traditional contact occurred ... the heads of the two players would never have been in the place for the head contact to occur.
"Wighton is not being charged with a head collision. He is charged with effecting a shoulder charge."
Wighton's decision not to speak came after he clashed with Knowles in his last judiciary hearing, asking the judiciary counsel in 2023 "how many games of rugby league have you played?".
In that instance, he was reprimanded by Bellew for the comment before receiving a three-game ban for biting.