Past and present sports stars have slammed the four-match NRL ban Newcastle captain Andrew Johns is facing if he loses at the NRL judiciary on Wednesday night.

"A team like Newcastle might spend $5 million in one year and one linesman can destroy the club in one go," said legendary St George front rower Harry Bath.

"It's wrong mate, wrong."

Former Balmain hooker Benny Elias said a more appropriate penalty would be to impose a fine or to force Johns to do some promotional work at grassroots rugby league level.

"The punishment doesn't fit the crime," Elias said.

"This bloke worked for 79.5 minutes busting his guts, he's the captain in the most important game of the season and he said a few choice words ... you can't now crucify him.

"You'd trade five NRL games for one semi-final game."

Recently retired Brisbane Bullets guard Simon Kerle, who spent the majority of his 400-game NBL career battling referees, felt the penalty was way over the top.

"I can totally understand where he's coming from," said the former volatile basketballer who beat a charge of pushing a referee in 2001 when the tribunal tossed out the allegation.

"Maybe give him a week's suspension and smash him with a $20,000 fine but don't suspend him for three weeks and into the finals, that's too harsh."

Andrew Slack, who captained the Wallabies to a history-making Grand Slam in 1984, also felt the ban was too severe.

"He had to be punished, but the punishment here seems to outdo the crime really," said the 39-Test veteran, now a respected television commentator.

"He's done the wrong thing, but three weeks or whatever it might be is too severe."

Parramatta forwards Nathan Hindmarsh and Mark Riddell also labelled the punishment as "harsh".

Former Queensland Origin hardman Kevin Campion said poor officiating was to blame for the outburst.

"The quality of the refereeing at the moment is so poor you have to expect that (kind of abuse)."

Former Manly enforcer Mark Carroll said a one-week ban would suffice.

"The officials have got to have a look at themselves too," Carroll said.

However, the NRL's tough stance was applauded by several big names, including AFL coach Terry Wallace.

"I think it is good, I think we allow too much," the Richmond mentor said.

"I think we need to have more control, our players need to have more control.

"We understand there is a certain degree of frustration, but when the vitriol is savage towards the umpires, I don't think there is any need."

Australian Rugby Union referees' convenor and former Test whistle-blower Peter Marshall said the contrary conduct charge sent a strong and important message to league players.

"If you let a high-profile player get away with something like that you will have trouble down the grades," said Marshall, who controlled 32 Tests over 11 seasons until 2003.

Fellow former international referee Andrew Cole admitted if he was on the receiving end of a foul-mouthed spray he might choose to ignore it if he was guilty of making the wrong call.

"If I thought I might have made a big mistake then I might contract industrial deafness," he said.

But Brisbane-based Cole, in charge of 31 Tests between 1997 and 2005, said John's behaviour crossed the line and deserved to be treated harshly.

Both he and Marshall felt three weeks would be a fair call.

Queensland Rugby Union judiciary chairman Harold Shand indicated Johns would have suffered a similar penalty had he been cited in rugby.

Under International Rugby Board rules, a low-end (verbal) charge of threatening a match official carries a maximum three-month suspension.

A Brisbane colts player was recently suspended for six weeks and rubbed out of the finals for swearing at a referee throughout an under-19 match.

Shand said his sentence was halved due to a good record. He felt Johns' punishment would have been less than six weeks because it was one knee-jerk tirade rather than persistent abuse.

Brisbane prop Shane Webcke said: "I don't think he's been treated too harshly and living within reality that people can hear what you say, it is not acceptable.

"Match officials have the toughest job in our game and right or wrong, I don't think they intend to make mistakes and I don't think they deserve to cop a mouthful of abuse."

Former fiery Test prop Greg Dowling, who was no saint on the field during his days, said Johns would have to cop whatever penalty came his way.

"You just can't go on abusing the officials," Dowling said.

"Unfortunately kids do watch it and they do mimic."

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