JUDICIARY panel member Darrell Williams has given Melbourne supremos Brian Waldron and Craig Bellamy one last chance to avoid litigation - step on to the dais after today's grand final, clear your throats, grab the microphone and deliver a heartfelt apology.

Williams doesn't want any old run-of-the-mill token apology. He wants the whole nine yards.

But the godfather of rugby league, Ken Arthurson, says Waldron and Bellamy have already crossed the line of common decency by slandering the judiciary and deserve to be sued by the aggrieved panel, regardless of any attempts to say sorry tonight.

Williams revealed the panel would consider aborting defamation proceedings if a sincere apology was delivered after today's decider.

"It could go a long way towards resolution of the matter," he told The Sun-Herald.

Williams warned "the horse has almost bolted on this one" but said he would consider dropping legal proceedings if the Storm asked for forgiveness on the biggest stage.

"We would have to see how they apologised and the sincerity of their apology," Williams said.

Arthurson, however, said it was already too late.

"They have already had enough time to say sorry," he said.

"Some of their remarks were very ordinary. More than a week has come and gone and they failed to apologise. That has been a full week of those remarks still being out there.

"It should not have been so hard to say sorry, and it should not have taken so long. It should never have come to this.

"What Waldron and Bellamy both said went beyond the pale. There are times in rugby league as players, coaches and administrators when you just have to cop decisions on the chin. They let themselves, and the game, down when they failed to do that.

"My honest opinion, and I am a Manly supporter through and through, is that I do feel some sympathy for [Melbourne captain] Cameron Smith. He is not someone I would regard as a dirty player, and to miss a grand final is a terrible thing. But the guys on the judiciary, I know them well.

"They all played the game, they know the game, and I can tell you their integrity is beyond question. The coach and the CEO were both out of line.

"They both went outside the bounds of common decency."

Arthurson said an apology earlier this week could have ended the matter because the emotion attached to the attack was obvious.

"If they had just come out and said, 'Look, we went too far, emotions got the better of us and we're sorry if what we said was hurtful or over the top,' I think people would have accepted that," Arthurson said.

Former Manly centre Williams said he didn't want to take the focus off the grand final.

"Absolutely not, it wasn't about us taking them to court," he said. "It was something they created.

"We think they went way overboard with the Cameron Smith suspension and a simple apology may have made this all go away.

"They chose not to go down that road and we proceeded further.

"They have been forwarded a request from us that it happen before the grand final and they have chosen not to.

"I'm not here to wait around and wait for them to apologise to me, I have to restore some public confidence in my integrity."

The spray has already cost the Storm $50,000, but Bellamy has declined every opportunity during the week to resolve the matter.

It's understood the Storm are using the drama to steel their players as they prepare to take on the Sea Eagles, and backing down would threaten the siege mentality they have built up. Legal advice might also have suggested an apology would be an admission of guilt.

The Storm were sent a request in writing demanding an apology, but none has been forthcoming.