Nathan Cleary's fate at NRL judiciary revealed

Nathan Cleary has avoided suspension after successully downgrading a Grade 2 high tackle charge from the third week of trials.

Cleary pleaded guilty to a careless high tackle charge for a tackle on Wests Tigers' rookie Heamasi Makasini where the star halfback was sin binned and placed on report in the 38th minute of the Panthers' 26-12 trial loss to the Wests Tigers.

The decision took only 12 minutes with Cleary's charge downgraded to a Grade 1.

The Panthers halfback will now pay an $1800 fine and is free to play in his side's season opener against Brisbane on March 6.

Fronting the judiciary with father and coach Ivan as his representative, Cleary's core argument was he first made shoulder-to-shoulder contact with Makasini.

“I kept my arm deliberately down. My first contact was with his shoulder,” Cleary said in his opening argument.

“Often my arm will come higher in tackles, but I deliberately leave it lower because I don’t want to hit him in the head. My direct contact is shoulder to shoulder.”

The NRL argued that Cleary's carelessness and level of force is what constituted a Grade 2 charge.

"He comes hard out of the line and continues his acceleration through the target. The level of force is not an entry level, low level," NRL Legal Counsel Lachlan Gyles argued.

"The second reason is the level of carelessness. By approaching the player at the speed player Cleary did, he did not have the ability to adjust.

"The third reason is the risk of injury. If the player had not slightly rotated his head, there could have been facial injuries."