JWH guilty of tripping, banned for preliminary final

Sydney Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will miss his side's crucial preliminary final clash against either Melbourne or Parramatta after being found guilty of tripping at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night.

Waerea-Hargreaves, who had his fourth visit to NRL HQ to fight his sixth charge of the season, argued he slipped when his leg reached out to make contact with Rabbitohs centre James Roberts.

But the three-man panel of Mal Cochrane, Bob Linder and Sean Garlick ruled against the 30-year-old, instead agreeing with NRL counsel member Peter McGrath that the motion was of a reckless nature.

"I thought we had a really good case tonight. I'm really disappointed," Waerea-Hargreaves said after the hearing.

"We have a lot of faith and depth in our squad there. I'm looking forward to getting our boys as well prepared as possible."

Waerea-Hargreaves would've escaped the citing with a monetary fine if he had a clean record but his previous charges and carry-over points means he will miss one match.

The 160-point penalty plus his 30 existing carry-over points means Waerea-Hargreaves is left with 90 points to his name, meaning any further charge is likely to result in another suspension.