Canterbury rookie Jacob Preston has received a two-match ban for the hip-drop tackle that injured Jackson Hastings and put Newcastle's finals hopes in jeopardy.
Preston went to the sin bin in the first half of the Knights' 42-6 home victory and Hastings spent the remainder of the match on the sidelines with ice, and then a moon boot, on his right ankle.
On Sunday evening, Knights coach Adam O'Brien feared his halfback had suffered a syndesmosis injury but said he would go for scans on Monday.
A high-grade syndesmosis injury could rule Hastings out for the remainder of the season.
The seventh-placed Knights are preparing for Adam Clune to come in at halfback as they hope to lock up a return to the play-offs.
The match review committee categorised Preston's shot as grade-three dangerous contact and proposed the second-rower miss upcoming games against Canberra and Manly.
If he unsuccessfully pleads his case at the judiciary, Preston will miss three games, and thus the remainder of the 15th-placed Bulldogs' season.
Post-match, Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo was tight-lipped on Preston's sin-binning and that of Harrison Edwards for a professional foul.
"I didn't see them that closely," he said.
"You can't argue with it, it's not the reason we lost the game."
Preston was sin-binned for a similar hip-drop tackle on South Sydney's Izaac Thompson on ANZAC Day but controversially escaped sanction from the match review committee on that occasion.
The shot continued Hastings' unlucky run of form with hip-drop tackles; he missed the end of last season after Brisbane forward Patrick Carrigan broke his fibula with a similar shot.