Canterbury coach Des Hasler is adamant Frank Pritchard has no case to answer when he faces the NRL judiciary on Wednesday night to defend his high tackle charge.

Pritchard was put on report in the Bulldogs’ win over Penrith on Saturday after catching Panthers winger David Simmons with a shot to the head, leaving him with concussion and out of Sunday’s match against the Sydney Roosters.

The New Zealand backrower was slapped with a similar charge for a hit on Cronulla’s Wade Graham last season and faces a one-match suspension should he be found guilty.

However, Hasler fully expects to have Pritchard available to face St George Illawarra on Saturday.

“We want to defend and support Frank,” Hasler said.

“It was a fair tackle. There was nothing malicious or intentional about it.

“It is a tackle that he has learned, practised and used throughout his career.”

Hasler said he respected calls from former South Sydney and Parramatta backrower Doctor Nathan Gibbs to ban shots to the head.

Gibbs has also suggested tackles should only be permitted under the nipple line, but Hasler claimed it would be impossible to enforce.

“You are talking milliseconds here,” he said.

“But first and foremost, it’s a contact sport played by elite athletes that are in excess of 110 kilos.

“You have got to go back and see the players and their bodies are in motion.

“Simmons is six (foot) three or six (foot) four but, with his running style, he becomes five foot three.

“It is a really tough one to adjudicate on, which is why we are going in to defend Frank. We don’t believe he was careless.”