NRL: Rival props cop one game ban

St George prop Michael Weyman was found guilty of striking Brisbane utility Ben Hunt. Photo / Getty Images

SYDNEY - There was no love for the big men at the NRL judiciary on Wednesday night with rival props Brent Kite and Michael Weyman both failing in their bids to beat one match bans.

Clive Churchill medallist Kite was found guilty of a grade one careless high tackle while St George Illawarra's Weyman has left his Dragons side even more short-handed for Friday night's clash with Gold Coast after being found guilty of striking Brisbane utility Ben Hunt.

The loss of Weyman leaves the Dragons without four first-choice forwards for the trip to the holiday strip, with Jeremy Smith, Ben Creagh and Jarrod Saffy out with injury.

Ricky Thorby - who was named on an extended bench - is now likely to get a run.

Weyman attempted to convince the judiciary panel of Mal Cochrane, Ian Roberts and Sean Garlick he was just attempting to fend Hunt away, with his legal counsel Geoff Bellew SC claiming the act was not highly reckless.

"My main intention there was to bump the player off and then offload," Weyman said.

Judiciary counsel Peter Kite claimed Weyman failed to show a duty of care, with his forearm striking Hunt on the throat.

"This is not an intended strike (but) Weyman has adopted a technique with his fend which is highly reckless," Kite argued.

Meanwhile Sea Eagles front rower Brent Kite will miss the clash against Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Monday night with a verdict Roberts described as one of the toughest he has had to come up with as part of the judiciary panel.

That was of little consequence to Kite.

"I'm very disappointed," said Kite, who like Weyman, had little to lose by contesting the charge given they were both facing one-match bans with early guilty pleas.

"I thought we had a good case, but it wasn't going to be my night.

"I was pretty pumped up for that one (against Melbourne)."

Kite - who was also represented by Bellew - said he was attempting to hit Cronulla winger Blake Ferguson with his shoulder, arguing his swinging arm never got past the horizontal.

"I thought I got him on the ball," Kite said.

"Ideally I would have liked to hit him with my shoulder but with Joey (Joe Galuvao) cutting him (Ferguson) in half, his head dropped a fair bit."

Bellew claimed it would be `unrealistic' to have expected Kite to avoid contact with Ferguson's head.

"The drop of the Cronulla player is about 45 degrees," Bellew said.

"That's not minimal, it's not slight, and it's the sole reason Brent Kite made contact with the player's face."

It is not yet known who will come into the Manly side for Kite.

- AAP