North Queensland have entered a plea of not guilty to the grade two careless high tackle charge hanging over co-captain Reuben Cotter as they head to the judiciary.
If successful on Tuesday night at the hearing, the lock forward will be free to play against Cronulla in the elimination final at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Cotter was charged by the Match Review Committee (MRC) for a high shot on Canberra prop Josh Papalii in the first hit-up of the 50-30 loss to the Raiders in Townsville on Saturday night.
The Cowboys warhorse was sin-binned after just 15 seconds. Papalii went off for an HIA which he passed before returning to score a try and have a blinder in his final match in the NRL.
Cotter could still play against the Sharks if he is found guilty and is able to get a downgrade to a grade one, which in his case would attract just a fine.
Given the Queensland and Australia forward's value to the side it makes sense to take the risk.
"Reuben's an integral part of our team and we'd love to have him for round one of the finals," Cowboys co-captain Tom Dearden told AAP.
"I think if there's any chance of him getting a downgrade, it'd be important for him to get back and play for us."
The 27-year-old has already been charged three times, all grade one, by the MRC this year, but has no extra loading on his record.
Two of those charges have fallen off his record given they were more than 10 games ago and he successfully challenged a high shot charge on Gold Coast's Jayden Campbell in round 23.
If Cotter is unsuccessful at the judiciary he will miss two matches.
The Cowboys will reveal their defence on judiciary night but after the match coach Todd Payten and Cotter both played down the incident.
"It was a big collision, definitely," Payten said.
"Watching it again a couple of times, I thought it was head on head.
"I thought Papa stayed down just in disappointment of dropping the ball, and then in the HIA he was cleared and came back to play which was a good thing for him and a good way for him to finish off his career."
Cotter agreed with his coach.
"It doesn't help getting sin-binned, but I thought it was head-on-head and I didn't feel like there was much in that," he said.
Australian Associated Press
