Cited by the Group Nine board for a lifting-tackle on Brothers second rower Connor McCauley on May 7, Slater fronted the judiciary on Wednesday and pleaded guilty.

The judiciary panel took into account the guilty plea and Slater’s record before handing out a two-game ban.

Slater will miss Sunday’s clash with Tumut at Twickenham as well as Cootamundra the following week plus Riverina’s Country Championship game against Monaro on Saturday.

Young then have two byes meaning he won’t be back to play until the Cherrypickers play Kangaroos on June 18.

Young captain-coach James Woolford is leaving open his options for a replacement for Slater on Sunday.

Saul Lealaitafea is one option, with Woolford also weighing up a reshuffle which would see Tui Samoa coming off the bench.

Woolford is looking for his team to rebound after a poor second half showing against Albury.

The two teams were locked at 12-all before the Thunder rolled in 28 unanswered points in the second half.

Woolford has far from happy with the performance and knows they face another big task taking on the undefeated Blues.

“I can't put my finger (on what went wrong) to be honest,” Woolford said.

“We were pretty soft in defence and they ran straight through us and we had no answer for it.

“(But) we’ve stayed positive at training this week and hope to give Tumut a shake at home.”