South Sydney centre Luke MacDougall is facing one of the longest suspensions of all time after being hit with a grade five dangerous throw charge by the NRL match review committee.

MacDougall could be out for as many as 14 weeks after the match review committee decided to come down hard on the Rabbitohs flyer following his 64th minute tackle on Sydney Roosters fullback Anthony Minichiello on Saturday night.

The grading is the most severe available to the match review committee, short of referring the incident straight to the NRL judiciary.

It carries a base penalty of 925 points, but MacDougall's bad record at the judiciary extends the penalty to 1423 points, which equates to a 14-week ban.

Only eight suspensions in the history of the NRL have been for longer than 14 weeks, while the longest previous ban for a dangerous throw was for eight weeks.

MacDougall can accept a 10-match ban, which would still rule him out until round eight next season, with an early guilty plea, but Souths coach Shaun McRae said a decision on whether the club would contest the charge wouldn't be made until Tuesday morning.

"We've got until midday tomorrow. We viewed it this afternoon and we've had a look at a few other (similar) incidents which have occurred this season and we just want to think about it overnight," McRae said.

It is the second time this year MacDougall has been charged over a dangerous throw, with the 23-year-old banned for five matches following a tackle on Melbourne five-eighth Scott Hill in round 10.

But McRae denied there was a problem with MacDougall's tackling technique.

"It's the second time this year ... but the two tackles are completely different," McRae said.

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