Hetherington rap sheet to cost him NRL ban

It comes as Dylan Napa is also facing being rubbed out of the rest of the season by the NRL's match review committee.

Canterbury prop Hetherington was sin-binned in the 76th minute of Sunday's loss to Wests Tigers for a high shot on Alex Twal - a call that coach Trent Barrett said was more about Hetherington's reputation than the actual offence.

However, a grade one charge also takes into account his bad record, with four prior similar charges over the past two years taking him from a monetary penalty to facing two or three weeks on the sidelines.

Earlier this season Hetherington was suspended for five weeks for a grade three careless high tackle on North Queensland's Valentine Holmes.

And just three minutes into his return for the Bulldogs he was charged again for a careless high tackle that cost him a $3050 fine.

For his latest offence, if he accepts a two-match suspension with an early guilty plea, it will be his seventh suspension in a 38-game career, missing a total of 17 games.

After the game Barrett was hopeful Hetherington would not be charged for the shot on Twal but admitted his tackling technique was something they needed to look at.

"I think he's been put on report about six times, but no charges," Barrett said.

"It's something we've got to address; you can't tackle high but, yeah I didn't think it deserved the 10 minutes."

In a further blow to the bottom-placed Bulldogs, fellow prop Napa is facing three or four weeks on the sidelines for two incidents in the 28-16 loss to the Tigers.

The ex-Queensland enforcer was charged by the match review committee for dangerous contact on James Tamou in the second minute and a careless high tackle on Thomas Mikaele in the 69th minute.

Should he take the early guilty plea he will miss three games, but if he fights the charges at the judiciary and is unsuccessful, he risks a four-week ban.

Australian Associated Press