STORM winger Anthony Quinn will decide today whether to fly to Sydney and face Matt Hilder in person as he tells the judiciary how the Knights hooker spat on him during last weekend's match in Newcastle.

Despite having the option of giving evidence by telephone, Quinn is considering making the trip from Melbourne to ensure his credibility cannot be questioned after making the spitting allegation in the dressing rooms on Saturday night following a shoving match with Hilder at full-time.

The tribunal hearing clashes with a tribute night for Storm veteran Matt Geyer, who is retiring at the end of the season, but Quinn has indicated to officials that he feels so strongly about the incident he would be prepared to risk missing the function.

"Anthony will be there but whether it's by person or via a teleconference is something we are going to work out tomorrow," Storm football manager Frank Ponissi said.

"We've got Boofa's testimonial on tomorrow night, so that is something to consider but we'll speak to the NRL and make a decision in the morning."

With Hilder intending to plead not guilty and Warriors fullback Wade McKinnon also charged with spitting at touch judge Brett Suttor during last Sunday's match against Penrith in Auckland, the judiciary is in for a long night.

In addition, Bulldogs back-rower Nick Kouparitisas is contesting a high tackle charge, while four players charged yesterday from Monday evening's Manly-Gold Coast game are considering their pleas.

Among them were Sea Eagles centre Steve Matai, who faces the prospect of missing this weekend's final-round clash with the Panthers. This comes after NRL officials revised a careless high tackle charge to add a previously overlooked loading for the hit that KO'd Australian centre Mark Gasnier in last October's Test at Wellington.

Titans hooker Nathan Friend might also have had his season ended by the match review committee after being charged with contrary conduct for running in to punch Josh Perry following a high shot on team-mate Daniel Conn.

Manly lock Glenn Stewart and Gold Coast winger Esi Tonga were also charged, but have escaped suspension.

However, the main cases involve Hilder and McKinnon, who also plans to defend himself against Suttor's allegation that he was spat at by the Warriors custodian.

While both men were referred to the judiciary on ungraded contrary conduct charges, the NRL prosecutor is not expected to suggest their actions were worse than a grade five offence. This would result in Hilder facing a nine-match ban and McKinnon a suspension of 10 games due to loading and carry-over points from previous charges.

Instead, the judiciary panel members are expected to be asked to make their own decision, although a four-match ban could be sought for Hilder - the same penalty that was imposed on Manly's Shayne Dunley when he was found guilty of spitting in 2005 before he successfully appealed.

McKinnon's offence is considered worse because it involves a match official, but it could be harder to prove Suttor's claim that the former Parramatta and South Sydney star attempted to spit on him as the touch judge is not in the camera frame at the time.

It is understood the video footage, which Suttor brought back with him from New Zealand on Monday to give to NRL referees boss Robert Finch, does not help to determine what McKinnon said to the linesman as he is drowned out by crowd noise.

Meanwhile, Friend yesterday continued his attack on the Sea Eagles.

"They tried to put it over us thinking that they were better than we were but a lot of the boys stood up to them and I thought it was great," he told Channel Seven.