Canberra centre Joseph Leilua can escape an NRL suspension with an early guilty plea after being hit with a grade-one dangerous contact charge.

Leilua hit Newcastle’s Tim Glasby with an elbow to the head in the 68th minute of his side’s 17-10 win over the Knights on Friday.

The NRL judiciary on Saturday charged Leilua with a grade-one offence. Given his clean record, Leilua will avoid missing any football with an early guilty plea, but could miss one match if he contests the charge and loses.