Manly centre Steve Matai has been handed a two-match ban by the NRL judiciary after taking early guilty pleas to two separate charges of dangerous conduct.

The hard-hitting New Zealand international was charged with using his knees in a tackle on St George Illawarra five-eighth Jamie Soward and also with a grapple tackle on the same player in the Sea Eagles' 48-18 loss to the Dragons on Sunday.

Matai will miss the defending premiers' clash with Cronulla at Toyota Stadium on Saturday and the round-20 encounter against Newcastle.

Dragons hooker Nathan Fien also pleaded guilty to a high-tackle charge from the same game but will not spend any time on the sidelines with the offence carrying only 56 penalty points.

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