Jack Wighton found guilty of biting Newcastle Knights' Tyson Gamble

After an 80-minute hearing on Tuesday, the judiciary panel, chaired by Geoffrey Bellew SC and comprising Penrith great Tony Puletua and former referee Paul Simpkins, took 20 minutes to reach their decision.

The panel retired at 8pm to consider their sentence, with Wighton's defence providing a character reference from Raiders legend and Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga in their push for a two-match ban.

The NRL counsel suggested a four-match ban before the panel settled on three.

The ban is shorter than that received by the last men's player charged for biting, ex-Gold Coast second-rower Kevin Proctor in 2020, and lighter still than those handed to James Graham (12 games in 2012) and Brad Morrin (eight, 2007) for the same offence.

Both parties agreed the bite on Gamble's arm had been on the lower end of the scale in terms of severity and posed a lower risk of injury than a bite to another area.

Wighton is South Sydney's highest-profile signing for 2024, and the ban is a blow to their hopes of making a fast recovery from their disappointing ninth-placed finish to this season.

Wighton will notably miss the Rabbitohs' historic match against Manly in Las Vegas to begin 2024.

Ordinarily, players could apply to count representative matches towards their ban such as Australia's end-of-year matches. But Wighton won't be eligible having announced his representative retirement earlier this year.

The match review committee referred Wighton directly to the judiciary after he was placed on report just after half-time of the Knights' 30-28 win in Newcastle on Sunday.

Gamble's forearm was wrapped around Wighton's chin while attempting a tackle, after which Gamble immediately claimed to referee Ashley Klein he had been bitten. Klein told the bunker he had seen a row of bite marks on Gamble's forearm but opted against sending Wighton from the field, instead placing him on report.

Wighton entered a not-guilty plea and appeared via video link before the judiciary, supported by Raiders football manager Matt Ford and chief executive Don Furner.

Defence counsel Nick Ghabar did not dispute contact had been made with Gamble's forearm but Wighton claimed the tackler had applied "extreme" pressure to the back of his head and his face.