St George Illawarra's finals hopes risk coming undone as five-eighth Kyle Flanagan prepares to face the NRL judiciary over biting allegations.
Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton lodged a complaint with NRL officials on Saturday night, claiming he had been bitten attempting to tackle Flanagan in the Bulldogs' 28-10 win at Jubilee Oval.
On Sunday morning, the match review committee referred the Dragons five-eighth directly to a judiciary hearing, an action typically taken for serious offences or those unable to be ruled on without testimony.
Flanagan will front the panel at the NRL's Sydney headquarters on Tuesday night, the first player this season accused of biting.
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan was unaware of the matter immediately after full-time on Saturday night but has since been reported as saying his son had denied the allegation.
The club later advised staff not to comment on the incident publicly given a judiciary hearing had been confirmed.
Crichton did not attend the post-match press conference on Saturday, his coach Cameron Ciraldo saying he was seeing medical staff.
He refused interviews from the media later on.
"His nose is a bit swollen there but (we haven't spoken) in great detail," Ciraldo said.
"He's getting a few things checked.
"I don't know what to say about it, really, so we'll leave it there."
The last NRL player charged for biting, Jack Wighton, received a three-match ban for lashing out at Newcastle five-eighth Tyson Gamble during last year's finals series.
Gold Coast forward Kevin Proctor was given a four-game ban for biting during the 2020 season, while James Graham (12 games) and Brad Morrin (eight) received longer suspensions for the same offence in 2012 and 2007 respectively.
A ban would come with terrible timing for a Dragons side that likely needs to win three of their remaining four games to guarantee a first finals berth since 2018.
The Dragons are currently ninth, but only their inferior for-and-against is keeping them behind the eighth-placed Dolphins.
Flanagan has played five-eighth in all 20 games of the Dragons' resurgent season, proving a solid foil for Ben Hunt after a 2023 season that featured chopping and changing between Junior Amone and Jayden Sullivan in the halves.
But pending the outcome of Tuesday night's judiciary hearing, coach Flanagan may have little option but to rejig his halves pairing at a crucial juncture.
Flanagan's most logical replacement in the halves, Jesse Marschke, is sidelined with a hamstring injury but could return in time for the round 24 clash against Gold Coast next Sunday.
Utility Fa'amanu Brown is another option to come into the halves, having spent some time at five-eighth in NSW Cup this season.
