THE Roosters might have looked unstoppable against South Sydney but the likely suspension of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will be a massive setback.

THE Roosters might have looked unstoppable against South Sydney on Friday night but the likely suspension of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will be a massive setback heading into week one of the finals.

The Roosters’ win-loss record without him is not great – and they concede almost twice as many points when the big prop is not on the field.

But Waerea-Hargreaves is in danger of being rubbed out of Saturday’s showdown with Manly at Allianz Stadium after being placed on report for an ugly elbow on Souths’ Chris McQueen in the spiteful minor premiership decider.

Hargreaves doesn’t have a great record and appears set for his third ban in two years Monday when the NRL’s match review committee meets.

Depending on the severity of the charge they hit him with, Waerea-Hargreaves could be out for between one and four weeks.

A grade one charge will only see him miss one game if he takes the early guilty plea but a grade two could result in a 3-4 week suspension because he has carryover points and a 60 per cent loading from previous charges.

Along with Cronulla’s Andrew Fifita, Waerea-Hargreaves has been the most improved prop in the NRL this season and is averaging 127 metres a game.