Payten was charged by the NRL judiciary with a grade 2 dangerous throw for his lifting tackle on St George Illawarra centre Matt Cooper in Friday night's match.

This morning the club announced he had taken the early plea and will miss three weeks of the competition.

Payten will return for the round 26 match against the Gold Coast Titans.

If the club had contested the charge and lost, Payten would have missed the rest of the regular season.

The Tigers are ninth on the NRL ladder.

They next take on Parramatta Eels next Monday night.