Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns has slammed the decision to not send Canberra Raiders forward Sia Soliola off after his brutal "cheap shot" on Melbourne's Billy Slater.
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While he escaped being sent off in the 20-14 loss to Melbourne, Soliola will fight to avoid suspension at an NRL judiciary hearing at Rugby League Central on Tuesday night.
Soliola was charged with dangerous contact to the head or neck and looks set to spend a number of weeks watching from the grandstand after the incident was referred to a panel.
Winger Jordan Rapana is also facing at least a week on the sidelines after being charged with a grade one shoulder charge on Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
It's another blow to the Raiders who are next to no chance of playing finals football with six games remaining, with star forward Josh Papalii already serving a two-match ban for a shoulder charge.
Soliola's late swinging arm to Slater's head wasn't enough to convince referee Matt Cecchin to give him his marching orders and it has former Australian enforcer Mark Carroll wondering what it takes for someone to be sent off.
Brad Fittler has "no doubt" Soliola should have been sent for an early shower in the loss and believes he should be facing "really big penalties".
Johns says Soliola's late hit dealt a massive blow to the image of the game and it will only encourage smaller players to pursue other sports.
"It's a cheap shot, he should have been sent off. I know Sia Soliola is a lovely guy but that was a cheap shot, as cheap as they come, and should have been sent off," Johns said on Channel Nine's Sunday Footy Show.
"The ball was passed so why make the tackle? Every weekend I see halfbacks go to the line and pass and then a second or two later, a guy 20 or 30 kilos bigger than him, either smashes him from behind in the ribs or in the kidneys, or in that case he smashes him in the head with a stiff arm.
"We're not producing halfbacks in the game, how can we produce smaller guys who are creative when they pass the ball and big blokes come from behind and smash them in the kidneys or the ribs?"
Johns believes the incident is just as bad, if not worse, than Sydney Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce's off-field indiscretion last year that resulted in an eight-game ban and a $125,000 fine.
"We're so paranoid about the image of game," Johns said.
"What about [Soliola's hit]? What about that image of the game? What about mums sitting at home watching that? What are they going to think?"
Fittler believes the fact that Slater was falling is the only thing that saved Soliola from becoming the first person to be sent off in an NRL game since David Shillington 2015.
"If you get it wrong it should be really big penalties. That's if you do hit them anywhere below the head as well," Fittler said.
"If your timing is out, not only should you be penalised for hitting blokes late, but you should be either sin-binned or he should be suspended."
Ex-Origin hardman Carroll says it was one of the worst incidents in recent memory and was left wondering what more someone could do to be sent off.
"What do you have to do these days — take their head off and put it on a trophy?" Carroll asked Fox Sports' Gameday Live.
"That was one of the worst I've seen this year. It's the worst we've seen for quite a while, I think the last send off we saw was two years ago and that bloke should have been straight off."
