MANLY forward Richie Fa'aoso offered a full apology to Ashley Harrison after making the Gold Coast veteran the unconscious face to the farcical enforcement of the NRL's shoulder charge crackdown.

Harrison's 250th NRL milestone became a game he will never remember after he was ironed out by an ugly and late shoulder charge by Fa'aoso in the 35th minute.

"It's a contact sport but you don't mean to hurt people like that," Fa'aoso said.

"We might have clashed heads or something, I'm not too sure.

"I'm glad he is alright and I was sorry that he went off like that, especially in his 250th game, I felt pretty terrible.

"I was very sorry for what happened."

MATCH CENTRE: Titans v Sea Eagles

A stalwart of the club for many years, Harrison will need teammates to remind him of one of the Gold Coast's grittiest victories after they held out a fast-finishing Manly 16-14 at Skilled Park.

Harrison didn't regain his full composure until the half-time break but accepted a personal apology from Fa'aoso after the game and holds no grudge.

"It was a bit shady there for a while but I came good," Harrison said.

"I had no idea (the hit was coming), I could have been hit with a hammer from behind.

"It's one of those things, it's rugby league. Richie came in and saw me, that was nice of him, I've known Richie since he was a kid."

Fa'aoso said he'd simply forgotten about the shoulder charge ban when he rushed up to hit Harrison and knows he could face a suspension from the NRL match review committee.

"To be honest, you just forget about it sometimes," Fa'aoso said.

"I've just got to remember to wrap my arms around you know. I don't know if I was a bit late, I haven't really seen it.

"I will have a look at it and hopefully I will be alright next week but if I'm not I will just work hard and get back whenever I get back."

Not only was the hit on Harrison late, but the 31-year-old was essentially blindsided by the tackle as he'd turned his body in the direction of his pass and had no idea contact was coming.

The Queensland Origin star did not move after a head clash from the late hit, but the fact Fa'aoso chose the dangerous shoulder charge tackle after his opponent had passed the ball warranted strong action from officials.

But referees Matt Cecchin and Luke Phillips only put the incident on report rather than using the sin bin, following advice from video referees Steve Chiddy and Tony Maksoud.

It meant the Titans had to play out the game without one of their most consistent players while Manly kept all 17 players available with Fa'aoso to face the wrath of the NRL match review committee.

Harrison will need to pass cognitive tests to play Penrith next week, with Titans coach John Cartwright calling upon the NRL to address the situation that left his team a player down from illegal play.

Despite skipper Greg Bird protesting for a sin-binning, Cartwright doesn't think that is allowed under the rules and instead wants an 18th man to be available for clubs put in such situations.

"I don't think they do sin bin for that. Sin bin is normally for professional foul or to cool your heels," Cartwright said.

"But it was hard on us to lose a player for the game, we were down to three interchange players on an illegal shot.

"Maybe it's something they need to look at there with an 18th player or something really damages you when you lose a player off the bench."

Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey doesn't believe Fa'aoso has anything to worry about from the shoulder charge.

"There's not much in it. I think they clashed heads. At the end of the day he got a penalty and I think that is probably where it will stay,"Toovey said.

"I've seen it on replay and there's no problem there at all from what I see apart from the shoulder charge and it's illegal now and they got the penalty."

GOLD COAST 16 (R James D Mead tries A Sezer 4 goals) bt MANLY 14 (J Taufua 2 T Symonds tries J Lyon goal) at Skilled Park. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Luke Phillips. Crowd: 13,168.

