Watmough free to face Cowboys

Manly second-rower Anthony Watmough will face North Queensland after his “chicken wing” tackle charge was downgraded by the NRL judiciary.

Watmough was put on report after the tackle on New Zealand Warriors full-back Kevin Locke last Saturday in Perth.

After a short hearing, the decision was taken to downgrade the charge from grade one to grade two, meaning Watmough is free to take his place in the team against the Cowboys in Townsville.

“We had the comparables early in the week and we knew what we were up against,” said Watmough.

“The grading we got compared to some of the tackles that got a lower grading we thought was really harsh.

“We thought it was pretty harsh that we were here in the first place but, in saying that, they (the match review committee) have got a job to do.

Watmough will take 75 carry over points into the finals period as a result.