NRL denies McKinnon spitting appeal

(ANTARA) The New Zealand Warriors will not be allowed to appeal a three-match ban handed to fullback Wade McKinnon for spitting, the NRL has announced.

McKinnon on Wednesday night became the first player in NRL history to be suspended
for spitting at a match official after he was found guilty of spitting at touch
judge Brett Suttor on Sunday.
The Warriors sought leave to appeal immediately after the decision but NRL judiciary
chairman Greg Woods on Thursday denied them the right to appeal.
Woods said the case was not a fit case to proceed on appeal and that because it did
not have "good prospects of success".
"The admission of spitting by the player, the video evidence of the movements of the
player and the touch judge, and the previous reprimand represent a sound basis of
support for the conclusion which the panel reached as to the applicant's intention,"
Woods said in Thursday's verdict.
"I am of the view that the verdict of the panel was not unreasonable, and not
insupportable on the evidence.
"In my view, if an appeal went forward, it would not have good prospects of success."
Meanwhile, the judiciary confirmed Canberra forward Tom Learoyd-Lahrs' NRL season
was over by also denying an appeal for his seven-match suspension.
Learoyd-Lahrs was slapped with the ban two weeks ago for a dangerous throw on
Newcastle's Ben Cross.
The decision on McKinnon's appeal means he will only play again this year if the
Warriors make it to the third week of the NRL finals.
They face Parramatta on Saturday night and need to win, as well as hoping Newcastle
or Canberra lose, to sneak into the top eight.
McKinnon's three-match ban amounted to little more than a slap on the wrist after
NRL prosecutor Peter Kite had recommended a ban of between nine and 11 matches for
the "reprehensible" act.