Penrith coach Anthony Griffin predicts the NRL will have to deal with further incidents involving contact with referees, in the wake of prop Sam McKendry being found guilty at the judiciary of touching whistleblower Jared Maxwell.
The New Zealand international front-rower will miss Sunday's clash with Cronulla after unsuccessfully challenging his contrary conduct charge on Wednesday night at Rugby League Central.
Griffin said while the club accepted the decision, he argued many players were guilty of innocently making contact with officials in the course of the game and he expected a number of similar charges in coming weeks.
"We understand you can't touch the referee and that was the charge," Griffin said.
"We thought it was accidental and a very minor brush between Sam and the referee but the panel has made a stand.
"I would imagine it won't be the last one they have to deal with."
McKendry became the third player this year to be found guilty of touching a referee - after Parramatta captain Kieran Foran and Brisbane speedster James Roberts had accepted early guilty pleas in the first three weeks.
However, the NRL's crackdown on contact with match officials came into question when vision of Mitchell Moses, Trent Merrin, Corey Norman and Jamie Soward touching referees surfaced however none was charged.
Griffin said it was a tough penalty for McKendry to miss a big game against the in-form Sharks and supported the introduction of a fine system for touching referees and other petty charges.
McKendry's defence counsel Leo Premutico argued that his client was "talking with his hand" when Maxwell walked into him in the 71st minute of Monday night's win 20-16 win over the Sydney Roosters.
In the wake of a Matt Moylan no-try, McKendry approached the referee with his hand out attempting to get Maxwell's attention.
The three-man panel of Sean Garlick, Mal Cochrane and Don McKinnon took just 10 minutes on Wednesday evening to find him guilty, accepting prosecutor Peter McGrath's argument that McKendry had no right to approach the referee given he was not the captain and the contact was avoidable.
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