Wade McKinnon yesterday became the first player in memory to be charged with spitting at a match official after touch judge Brett Suttor told the NRL's review committee he believed the Warriors fullback had tried to spit on him.

After seven hours of studying video footage and interviewing witnesses, the match review committee referred both McKinnon and Newcastle hooker Matt Hilder to tomorrow night's judiciary hearing on ungraded contrary-conduct charges over weekend spitting incidents.

Hilder, accused of spitting by Melbourne winger Anthony Quinn after Saturday night's clash in Newcastle, faces a suspension of up to four matches if the ban initially imposed on Manly utility Shayne Dunley in 2005 before he successfully appealed is used as a precedent.

Exactly what penalty the NRL prosecutor will seek for the charge against McKinnon is unclear as there are no comparable cases in the premiership that anyone could think of yesterday. Despite Suttor's claiming McKinnon had intended to spit on him, that could be difficult to prove. McKinnon is vehemently denying the allegation.

But officials were convinced that McKinnon, who has clashed with referees and linesmen on several occasions, deliberately spat in the direction of Suttor after the touch judge failed to act on what the Warriors custodian insisted had been a forward pass from Penrith fullback Rhys Wesser to Luke Rooney in the lead-up to the former Test winger's 48th-minute try.

Such an incident would constitute dissent of the highest order and match review officials could take a lead from their counterparts at Football Federation Australia, who last night handed down a four-match ban to Perth Glory defender Dino Djulbic for "unsporting conduct toward a match official". Details of the accusation were not revealed.

Djulbic also received an automatic one-match suspension for the red card issued him on Sunday by referee Peter Green, who originally alleged Djulbic had spat at him. Had the committee found Djulbic guilty of that offence, he could have been banned for up to two years. McKinnon will defend the charge and Warriors officials yesterday pledged him their full support.

The Warriors will not dispute that McKinnon spat in the direction of Suttor but maintain that the double mouthguard he wears after suffering a broken jaw last year forces him to spit repeatedly and he had not aimed at the match official.

Hilder will also plead not guilty and said before being charged that he was unaware of the incident Quinn had referred to after the pair shoved each other at full-time in Saturday night's match.

But the match review committee referred him to the tribunal after obtaining a camera angle obtained by the committee that shows him appearing to spit at Quinn following a 79th-minute tackle on the NSW Origin representative.

Spray can be seen coming from Hilder's mouth after Quinn plays the ball and the former Knights winger then wipes his face.

"We're going to plead not guilty and defend the charge against Matt Hilder," Knights football manager Warren Smiles said. "We think there is enough evidence there to mount a good case. The player says he can't remember if he spat at that exact moment in the game … but he says he definitely did not spit at Anthony Quinn."

It is understood Quinn did not lodge a formal complaint but the match review committee interviewed the Storm star after he made a post-match allegation.

Only five players - Dunley, Wally Lewis (Brisbane), Jim Cowell (Gold Coast), Jamie Corcoran (Balmain) and Matthew Ridge (Auckland) - have been charged with spitting. Of those, Corcoran was the only one to serve a suspension after receiving a two-match ban in 1993, while Lewis and Cowell were fined for spitting at each other during a match in 1989.