Parramatta's Paulo awaits verdict for cannonball tackle

Parramatta and NSW enforcer Junior Paulo might be on report for a cannonball tackle, but his coach doesn't think he has a case to answer.

Paulo appears unlikely to cop a lengthy ban that would keep him out of State of Origin's series opener in two weeks, despite leaving Canberra prop Joe Tapine requiring medical attention after hyperextending his knee.

He's one of two players from the Eels' 26-18 loss to the Raiders who'll be checking the judiciary's charge sheet on Sunday morning and assessing their Origin eligibility.

But both he and Canberra's Corey Horsburgh appear long odds to cop the two-game ban required to keep them out of game one.

Parramatta coach Brad Arthur said he'd be shocked if Paulo was cited for the dangerous tackle.

"It's not a cannonball ... there's no force in it whatsoever," he said.

"100 per cent (he shouldn't be charged). There's nothing in it."

Canberra boss Ricky Stuart saw it differently, and questioned why Horsburgh had been binned for allegedly throwing a punch at Ryan Matterson while Paulo had stayed on the field.

The Raider forward made glancing contact at best with Matterson, and Stuart didn't miss with his critique of referee Grant Atkins' call.

"That was a poor decision ... that really put us under pressure," he said.

"I'm a mate of Junior's and I don't want to add any extra exposure to it, but I had a player go off over (his tackle).

"Corey Horsburgh pushed a player in the head, Corey got pushed in the head as well when he was held by a jumper.

"The interpretations around like that, it's just crap. You can't change interpretations week to week, I feel sorry for referees because they're the ones under pressure with interpretations."

Tapine went off with his knee injury but passed his tests and returned to the field, perhaps strengthening Paulo's case there was minimal force in the tackle.

Stuart did praise Atkins for not sending Parramatta's Bailey Simonsson off despite being put on report for a hip-drop tackle that's left a number of other players in the sin bin.

"I'm glad it's changed because too many players are laying down now on the hip-drops," he said.

"Some (players), the hardest part of their night is to get up and pretend they've got a sore leg.

"I don't believe you should be sin-binning blokes for hip-drops because it's tackles that accidentally go wrong. Coaches do not coach hip-drops, if you went into a tackle to try and do a hip-drop, you will miss it."