Meanwhile, Finucane is facing a three-week ban for a tackle that sent Crichton to hospital with a nasty broken ear.
Finucane’s 72nd-minute hit on Crichton did not result in a penalty from referee Ashley Klein despite a lengthy review of the incident by the NRL bunker at the time in Cronulla’s physical 20-10 defeat on Saturday at night.
The NRL’s match review committee has found otherwise, issuing Finucane with a grade 3 dangerous contact charge on Sunday morning.
Finucane can accept a two-week ban for the contact and miss the Sharks’ next two games against the Rabbitohs and Dragons, or challenge the suspension at the risk of a three-week ban if unsuccessful.
Penrith has already ruled Crichton out of Friday night’s western Sydney derby against Parramatta as a result of his severe concussion.
The NSW Blues center was taken to hospital after the full day in hopes of surgery on his badly cut ear.
Panthers medical staff carried out repairs to the injury which saw Crichton’s ear effectively pinned, and the 21-year-old told the ABC on Saturday night that he had no recollection of Finucane’s shot.
“I’m just coming to my senses now,” Crichton said.
“I don’t remember what happened. It’s good to have my memory back now. The cut was from the headbutt.”
Finucane was seen consoling Crichton after the game and is regarded as one of the NRL’s genuine good boys.
Klein ruled his contact with Crichton was a head tackle as Penrith players protested otherwise, with Panthers coach Ivan Cleary upset by the ruling afterwards.
“This is strange [Finucane’s tackled was] OK and the softer taps are not good,” Cleary said.
“His ear is awful. He’s seen better days. He’s in good spirits from what he remembers.
“I’m sure the last thing Dale Finucane wanted to do was hurt Critta. Historically, [a] The header was a header, but I think as easy as it is to give a high tackle penalty now… it looked bad, didn’t it. And ‘Critta’, it’s not great.
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“I don’t know. There’s certainly an argument for a sloppy one [high tackle].
“I thought we’d at least get a penalty. I’m not exactly sure about the interpretations, but it’s clearly a contact to the head and knocks him out. I don’t know if you’ve seen his ear, but it’s like a car accident. It’s strange that this is fine, but softer touches are not fine.”
Penrith’s Viliame Kikau has also been charged with a late-game shoulder charge on Connor Tracey that left Cronulla captain Wade Graham fuming, but only faces a $1500 fine with an early guilty plea.
Melbourne’s Nelson Asofa-Solomona also faces two separate $3000 fines for two separate Grade 1 charges – a careless high tackle and dangerous contact – on South Sydney’s Cameron Murray in the first 14 minutes of the win of the Rabbitohs by 24-12.