Two St George players face 13 weeks combined suspensions after a high-shot crackdown from the NRL

Dragons duo Josh McGuire and Tyrell Fuimaono are staring at a combined 13-weeks suspension after the Magic Round crackdown on high tackles hit hard.

Despite St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin declaring McGuire “doesn’t know what a hip drop is”, the forward was among NRL players given a total of 24 weeks in suspensions from Sunday‘s three carnage-filled matches at Suncorp Stadium.

McGuire is facing up to seven weeks on the sideline after being cited for a grade three dangerous contact charge against Melbourne‘s Josh Addo-Carr.

McGuire’s long-rap sheet came back to bite him, with 130 per cent loading pushing his penalty out.

Fuimaono was slapped with a grade one reckless high tackle on Storm fullback Papenhuyzen Ryan, who missed the rest of the match because of the tackle, and could miss six weeks through suspension.

Gold Coast forward Herman Ese‘ese, who was sent off in the 37th minute of yesterday’s game against Penrith, is facing up to four weeks for his shot of Panthers winger Brian To’o.

Josh McGuire facing 5-7 weeks on the sidelines and his priors have really not helped him out.

Base charge of 300 points for grade 3 dangerous contact charge. Add 130% loading for prior offences + 47 carry-over points and the guilty points is 737.

564 with an early plea.#NRL

Titans utility Tyrone Peachey is also facing two weeks for a crusher tackle on Penrith forward Liam Martin.

The lengthy bans come after 14 players were sin-binned and three sent off in the NRL‘s crackdown on contact with the head/neck and foul play.

After the game on Sunday Griffin said Fuimaono’s send-off was no surprise but was bemused by McGuire being placed on report.

“I didn’t assume it was going to be a send-off but it didn’t surprise me when it was,” Griffin said.

“With the mood they’re in at the moment, that’s what’s happening.

“The McGuire one, on Addo-Carr, I don’t understand that one. We don’t coach him to do that. He doesn’t know what a hip drop is.

“You’ve got to be able to tackle someone and the legs will sometimes get tangled up. I want to get some clarification on that.”

Onm total there were three send-offs and 14 sin bins across Magic Round dominated by a backlash against the crackdown on foul play and high tackles.

NRL coaches over the weekend showed overwhelming concern with the last-minute high shot rule interpretation changes that resulted in carnage across the three days at Suncorp stadium.

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