Newcastle's premiership campaign is in strife with captain Andrew Johns set to miss at least the first week of the NRL finals.

Johns has been charged with contrary conduct for allegedly swearing at touch judge Matt Cecchin during Friday's loss to Manly.

An early guilty plea to the higher than expected grade three charge would result in Johns missing three matches.

With the Knights having the bye in round 26, that would take his suspension into week one of the finals series, beginning on September 8.

And in a further blow to the Knights, the NRL has fined the club $5000 for coach Michael Hagan supporting Johns over the incident, pending the judicial decision.

The fine has been issued on the basis Hagan publicly endorsed the principle that players are entitled to abuse referees.

Meanwhile, Bulldogs forward Tony Grimaldi is bitter, claiming his comments about players swearing at NRL officials have been taken out of context.

Several Australian TV news stations have shown footage of Grimaldi saying he thinks players should be able to swear at touch judges if the decision is wrong.