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South Sydney's Latrell Mitchell and Wests Tigers' Josh Reynolds could miss two to three NRL games after their clash in Friday night's game.
- Reynolds kicked Souths' Campbell Graham in the head while chasing a loose ball
- Mitchell responded with a high shot from behind that went unpunished by the on-field referee
- Both players will miss two games with early guilty pleas, but three matches if they fight the charges and lose
Just six minutes into the game, the Tigers five-eighth kicked Souths centre Campbell Graham in the head while chasing a loose ball, for which he was reported and has now been charged with grade two dangerous contact.
Mitchell retaliated by blindsiding Reynolds with a high swinging arm from behind, which went unpunished by the on-field officials, but elicited a grade two striking charge from the match review committee.
Both players will miss two games with early guilty pleas, but three matches if they fight the charges and lose
Mitchell was later put on report for a high shot on Tigers forward Luke Garner, but that only attracted a fine.
At half-time on Fox Sports on Friday, former Roosters, Bulldogs and Tigers star Braith Anasta said Mitchell was lucky to stay on the field for the hit on Reynolds, and four-time premiership winner Cooper Cronk said he expected both players to be banned.
"I reckon the judiciary will look at both incidents because you can't kick even if it's an accident and you can't retaliate like Latrell did," Cronk said.
Any time spent on the sidelines would come as a blow for Souths as Mitchell begins to find his consistency in the number one jersey.
"I'm not too sure what the process will be for him," Souths skipper Adam Reynolds said after the game.
"Hopefully he'll be there next week, but if not, we've got some quality young kids who are waiting to get their chance.
"It would be a massive loss."
His coach Wayne Bennett said he saw the kick from Reynolds but missed the shot from Mitchell.
"I just saw what happened with Campbell Graham on the ground," he said.
Reynolds is also facing time on the sidelines for collecting Graham's face with his boot while striking out at the ball.
Tigers coach Michael Maguire was subdued when asked whether Reynolds should miss game time, and was surprisingly supportive of Mitchell being cleared to play.
"I think he got (Reynolds)," Maguire said.
"At the end of the day, people look at that and they go through that, I hope nothing happens and away we go and play footy again.
"In both instances it's very quick and I don't think there's too much in either of them."
AAP/ABC