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Takes early guilty plea
Brisbane star Sam Thaiday will miss his team's first two NRL finals matches after entering an early guilty plea to his dangerous throw charge.
His decision to accept a two match suspension means Thaiday is sure to be available to play should the Broncos win through to the grand final, possibly earlier depending on the how the finals play out.
The Queensland and Australian forward was charged with a grade two dangerous throw for his lifting tackle on Manly prop Brent Kite on Sunday.
Brisbane made the decision on Tuesday to take the early plea after seeking legal advice and pouring over hours of video of lifting tackles.
Club officials had considered going to a judiciary hearing with the hope of getting the charge downgraded, in which case he would have escaped a suspension and been free to play in Saturday night's first qualifying final against the Warriors at Suncorp Stadium.
However they deemed the risk of having an extra week added to Thaiday's ban was not worth taking.
Coach Anthony Griffin will name Thaiday's replacement later on Tuesday with either 2010 rookie of the year Matt Gillett or utility Ben Te'o to earn a start in the back row.
Griffin will also name Gerard Beale at fullback after scans on Monday confirmed Josh Hoffman's season was over after he ruptured his posterior cruciate ligament playing against Manly at the weekend.