KEY POINTS:
The meagre three-week ban on Warriors fullback Wade McKinnon is a judgment on the touch-judge that accused him as much as it is a punishment on the fiery fullback.
Clearly the three-man judiciary panel regard touch-judge Brett Suttor's claim that McKinnon spat at him as a stretch, otherwise they would have gone with the prosecutor's requested 10-11 weeks.
There is no way the NRL stands for any kind of dissent against its officials and rightly so - no ref, no game.
The Warriors' hoped to have their appeal against the decision heard overnight.
The lengthy hearing in Sydney was before three old footy-heads in Royce Ayliffe (Roosters), Bob Lindner (Eels/Gold Coast/Western Suburbs) and Darren Britt (Eels/Bulldogs), wise in the ways of players and the failings of officials.
If they had believed for one split second that McKinnon had deliberately spat at an official they would have rubber-stamped prosecutor Peter Kite's recommendation of a lengthy ban.
On the other hand, they clearly accepted that McKinnon's hoick was thrown in the general direction of the touchie as a measure of his distaste for the decision which went before it, the awarding of a try to Penrith wing Luke Rooney despite a clear forward pass.
Kite described McKinnon's actions as "particularly reprehensible, made worse by the fact that it's directed at a match official" and raised the fact McKinnon had been cautioned for dissent by referee Ben Cummins five minutes before the altercation with Suttor.
McKinnon told the panel he had been suffering from a sinus infection, and that he spat regularly because he wore upper and lower mouthguards after suffering a fractured palate in 2006, also against Penrith.
When Kite put it to McKinnon that he had directed the gob in Suttor's direction, the fullback replied: "If I'm running, I spit. If I'm standing there, I spit. I don't have a traditional way of spitting."
McKinnon gave evidence that he said nothing to Suttor. "I cleared my throat and walked back to the huddle." He wasn't aware Suttor was nearby when he let fly and he was spitting at the ground, he said.
Suttor said the spit landed about 30cm from him. McKinnon's counsel Geoff Bellew described that as "almost an impossibility" because the two were at least 5m apart.
McKinnon's case is not aided by the fact everyone knows he is prone to offering mouthfuls of verbal spray to match officials.
The three wise forwards would be well aware that a three-match ban will rob McKinnon of the chance of helping the Warriors to a finals berth - a huge punishment in footballers' terms.
If the Warriors make the playoffs as seems a 70/30 chance he will then miss at least one playoff appearance.
If they miss, he serves his ban by sitting out two pre-season trials, a trick initiated by former Warriors coach Daniel Anderson so he could have Kiwis centre Clinton Toopi available in round one.
The Warriors need to find McKinnon's volume switch so they can turn him down without turning off his extremely sharp competitive edge. Otherwise there will be repeats of his brush with officialdom and the length of suspensions will grow.
