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Sydney Roosters players have made clear they don't want Nelson Asofa-Solomona banned for the NRL grand final, despite a high shot knocking out Lindsay Collins.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona has gained an unlikely ally in the Sydney Roosters, with players adamant they do not want the Melbourne prop to miss the grand final for his high shot on Lindsay Collins.
Asofa-Solomona will learn on Saturday morning if he faces a ban over the opening tackle of Friday night's preliminary final, which knocked out Collins and ended his game.
Anything beyond a grade-one charge would spell trouble for Asofa-Solomona, who would then need to fight the case at the NRL judiciary to avoid a ban of at least three games.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy claimed on Friday night he believed the tackle was only penalty sufficient, and Asofa-Solomona did not deserve to be sin-binned
And Roosters players backed the call, hopeful the Kiwi prop would not be ruled out for next Sunday's decider between the winner of Penrith and Cronulla.
"I hope (he's) not (banned), I truly do," Jared Waerea-Hargreaves said.
"It's why we play, it's such a physical game. You play that thing in the middle, we're just out there trying to do our best.
"They are small margins we talk about. I really hope it doesn't cost Nelson a grand final."
Built up as the two biggest combatants ahead of Friday night's preliminary final, the Super League bound Waerea-Hargreaves and Asofa-Solomona were seen in a long embrace after the Storm's 48-18 win.
"There was a lot of talk and speculation on both us guys, and who is going to dominate the middle," Waerea-Hargreaves said.
"I thought he played really well.
"I could feel him going after the game. I truly hope he gets to play (in the grand final).
"I really hope he gets to go out there next weekend and do the same thing. He's a Kiwi brother, and you just hope the best with him."
Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary took a similar stance, but said that defenders across the board needed to do more the protect ball carriers on kick off returns.
The issue remains a key talking point for the game, amid questions on whether kick offs will exist long into the future based on player safety.
"We said in there, we don't want to see him miss a grand final," Keary said.
"With those kick offs, you're running like that, the onus is on the defender to not hit this one guy running at full pace (in the head).
"We don't want to see (the kick off) banned because it is this gladiatorial sport.
"There is one guy running, he's not moving (sideways). You just cannot hit him in the head.
"They're not ducking at the last second, this isn't like a fullback stepping. We've seen it on our end too, we've had blokes hit people high. It's got to be on the defender."
Melbourne also have other minor concerns ahead of next Sunday's grand final, with Nick Meaney, Jahrome Hughes (calf) and Harry Grant (neck) nursing minor injuries.
