Roosters forward handed ban after punch

Roosters forward Daniel Suluka-Fifita has been charged by the NRL judiciary following an unsavoury incident with Rabbitoh Jai Arrow.

With the Bunnies well on top in what would end up being a comfortable win, Suluka-Fifita threw a punch to the back of Arrow's ahead as the former Titan was held down in a tackle.

"Is that a rabbit punch?" asked Storm legend Billy Slater in commentary. "This isn't going to end well for him here."

"They are right under their skin, right under their skin, the Rabbitohs are right on top here," Phil Gould added.

After a replay there were no doubts of what happened, and the young forward was sent to the sin bin – with a second scuffle nearly breaking out as Arrow waved goodbye to him.

Souths scored their third try of the evening shortly after.

"You can't do that in our game, it's pretty simple. You can't do that," Roosters coach Trent Robinson said post-match.

"He's really passionate, Dan, as a footy player. A quiet guy but really determined.

"He's a front rower but expressing yourself that way is not the way to go. He'll pick up his lessons from that."

Suluka-Fifita will miss one game with an early guilty plea, or two if he challenges it at the judiciary and fails.

There was speculation that the extra attention Arrow received from Roosters players during the contest was due to an incident involving James Tedesco in State of Origin last year, which Robinson confirmed.

Arrow became public enemy number one in NSW and came under fire from media and fans when he pushed Tedesco's head in the ground and grabbed his jersey aggressively as the Blues fullback laid on the turf after a collision with Josh Papalii.

"They spoke about it before I did. Players know, they spoke about it a long time ago. That shouldn't have happened – but you've still got to play rugby league, and play it the right way with physicality and discipline.

"We crossed the line there and we got punished for it."

The loss of Suluka-Fifita was the last thing the Roosters needed, after losing three more players last night to add to their already considerable injury woes.

Robinson was also asked about the performance of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, who gave away two penalties and a six again in his time on the field.

"He had to play a lot of minutes there, but how do you that without giving penalties? How do you play a really physical game but also not allow the opposition off the hook – that's when he's at his best," Robinson said.

Dragons centre Jack Bird was given a grade two contrary conduct charge for appearing to stamp on Manly's Moses Suli in the earlier game on Friday.

The Dragons won comfortably, condemning Manly to their third straight loss of the season.

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