MELBOURNE Storm winger Anthony Quinn yesterday denied he had changed his tune about an alleged spitting incident during the premier's one-point loss to Newcastle last weekend.
Quinn alleged that he had been hit in the face by spit from Newcastle's Matt Hilder in the final minute of the Knights' 17-16 victory, leading to a scuffle between the two players.
However, at Wednesday night's judiciary, Quinn tempered his accusation by saying that he was not sure if the act was intentional because he had not seen Hilder, who was at marker, spit at him as he played the ball.
Hilder was cleared by the National Rugby League judiciary. Quinn said yesterday he was satisfied with the outcome, but his body language indicated otherwise.
"The NRL dealt with it," he said.
"The matter finished with me after the game. The NRL are the ones that chased it up. I was done with it. I didn't change my tune at all. If the NRL is satisfied, then I am satisfied."
With the two clubs a chance to meet again in the first week of finals, Quinn said there would be no bad blood.
"I don't have any feelings towards him; he's just another player with Newcastle," he said.
"I don't even know him, so there can't be any bad blood if you don't know him."
When told that after Wednesday's hearing Hilder had said that the pair had played some junior football together and he thought Quinn was a "good bloke", the Storm winger said: "That's his opinion, but I don't have any bad blood against him, so that's it."
Meanwhile, with no team since the NRL's inception in 1998 having come from outside the top four to win the premiership, tonight's games could be a launching pad for another club's assault on the title.
Manly, Melbourne and Cronulla have secured the top three positions, but the battle for fourth will be decided tonight when Sydney Roosters (fourth, 32 points) play St George Illawarra (6th, 30pts) at the Sydney Football Stadium, while Brisbane (5th, 31pts) hosts Newcastle (8th, 28pts) at Suncorp Stadium.
The Knights must win to guarantee their place in the finals.
However, the Roosters are arguably under the most pressure as a loss could see the former frontrunners drop as low as sixth, with Brisbane likely to claim fourth spot if the Roosters stumble.
The Broncos are determined to farewell departing coach Wayne Bennett and retiring veteran Tonie Carroll away from Lang Park as winners, and with Test stars Darren Lockyer, Justin Hodges and Karmichael Hunt all fit heading into the finals, the 2006 premier is still rated a big title threat.
Manly, Melbourne and Cronulla (all tied on 36pts) are jostling for top spot. However, with the Sea Eagles and Sharks playing their final round games tomorrow, the Storm will be in a position to know exactly what it needs to do against South Sydney on Sunday night to win the minor premiership for the third consecutive year.
Canberra (7th, 28pts), Newcastle (8th, 28pts), New Zealand Warriors (9th, 28pts) and Parramatta (10th, 26pts) are all vying for the finals.
■The New Zealand Warriors will not be allowed to appeal a three-match ban handed to full-back Wade McKinnon for spitting.
McKinnon was suspended after he was found guilty by the judiciary of spitting at touch judge Brett Suttor.
The Warriors sought leave to appeal immediately after the decision, but judiciary chairman Greg Woods said yesterday the case was not fit to proceed on appeal because it did not have "good prospects of success".
With AAP
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