Bulldogs recruit Tevita Pangai Junior is free to play in the opening round of the NRL after the match review committee decided not to charge him following two incidents in last night’s trial against Cronulla.
Pangai Junior was put on report twice in the match; firstly for a shot on winger Sione Katoa, who was on the ground at the time, and then for striking Royce Hunt during a scuffle.
That saw the Bulldogs forward sent to the sin-bin, but the MRC has decided not to take any further action.
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“If he didn’t make contact to the head he went within a whisker,” Penrith great Greg Alexander said on Fox League.
“He wasn’t on a mission to run hard, tackle hard; he was on a mission to get sent off.
“He will come that close to getting suspended. He was fortunate the elbow (didn’t hit Katoa) and the two punches didn’t make contact with Royce Hunt. But he was trying hard.
“What is he thinking?”
The Bulldogs, who finished last in 2021, open their season against North Queensland in Townsville on March 13.
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