That could turn out to be a major bonus for Trent Robinson and the Roosters,who bowed out of the competition after acontroversial loss to the Storm at AAMI Park on Friday night.

Waerea-Hargreaves has now served three of his seven games and the rest could be counted through representative fixtures with New Zealand and the Maori All-Stars,which the veteran prop was being lined up to play for this year before withdrawing through injury.

Bellew will have the final decision on which matches count towards Waerea-Hargreaves’ suspension.

Waerea-Hargreaves needs only two more matches to reach the 300-game milestone in the NRL and was a huge loss for the Roosters when he was wiped out for a high shot on Api Koroisau and striking Stefano Utoikamanu in the penultimate round win over the Tigers.

The Roosters will travel to the United States to open next season against the Brisbane Broncos as part of the NRL’s five-year plan to take matches to Las Vegas. South Sydney and Manly will play the other game of the double-header.

The Roosters offered Waerea-Hargreaves a one-year contract extension for 2024,which is expected to be his last in the NRL after a decorated career which began in 2009.

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