I was too scared to leave my hotel room Why Cecchin is retiring from NRL

Leading referee Matt Cecchin will retire at the end of this season â€" and most likely this weekend â€" after revealing a decision against Cronulla two weeks ago left him “scared to leave my hotel room”.

Regarded by many as the game’s best whistleblower, Cecchin says a crisis in confidence in himself as well as missing out on the headline matches has prompted his decision.

The 48-year-old said he had been contemplating retirement for months, but the tipping point was a call against the Sharks against the Knights in round 22.

With 10 minutes remaining, and the scores locked at 14-all, Cecchin penalised Sharks defenders for carrying Knights centre Bradman Best from the field of play into the in-goal after calling “held”.

It was a 50-50 call, although Sharks coach Josh Hannay criticised the decision afterwards. Cecchin and his partner, Brent, were staying at the same hotel.

“I didn’t leave my hotel room because I was scared,” Cecchin told the Herald. “Not because I felt threatened, but I wanted to prevent any incident that could make it a drama. Nobody gave me that feeling, but I didn’t want someone to make a comment in a lift or the foyer.

Top referee Matt Cecchin is retiring from the NRL ... and this time it’s for good.Credit:NRL Photos

“I know it was a 50-50 call. The thing is three years ago I wouldn’t have lost a minute of sleep. But that night was shocking. I didn’t sleep that night or the night after. I felt more responsible than I should’ve been. When you’re younger, you look for the big decisions to show everyone you can do it. I’m running around now thinking I just want to get through it.”

This is the second time Cecchin has retired from the NRL. He says he means it this time.

He walked away three years ago in the aftermath of the controversial World Cup semi-final between Tonga and England in New Zealand. An avalanche of death threats via social media was picked up by New Zealand and Australian Federal Police.

A fresh start in the UK Super League fell through because of visa problems. Head of football Graham Annesley enticed him back to the NRL but in the past two seasons he has been left out of finals matches.

Cecchin couldn’t sleep after a 50-50 call in the round 22 match between Cronulla and Newcastle.Credit:NRL Photos

This weekend’s fixture is likely to be Cecchin’s last unless a more preferred referee suffers an injury or makes a howler.

“When you feel like you’re just making up the numbers, week after week, it gets tricky,” he said. “It’s hard to stay up when you don’t have the carrot of the big games like you once did. For the last year and a half, I’ve been trying to hold on to my reputation with the players and coaches. It wasn’t to be in the grand final or State of Origin, as it has been in the past. It’s important for me to be remembered by players and coaches as I am now.”

He’s leaving the game at a time when the scrutiny has never been so intense on match officials.

Part of the heavy breach notice slapped on the Roosters on Monday related to comments directed towards Cecchin, who was the standby referee on the sideline, after Souths forward Liam Knight was put on report for a hip-drop tackle on rival prop Sio Taukeiaho.

Cecchin refused to comment on the Roosters’ behaviour but agreed the job of refereeing had become infinitely harder since his NRL debut in 2001.

“The game is way more technical,” he said. “The difficulty now is the contradiction between what the game wants from the referee and what it expects. On one hand, they want extreme accuracy [scrutinised by] nine cameras and super-slo-mo. But they also don’t want the game to be decided by a referee unless he absolutely must.

“If you want the referee to be black-and-white, that’s easy to officiate. We can be robots and blow 30 penalties. When we don’t referee like that, the game is great entertainment. Do we let things flow and become less accurate, but at the same time be fair? That’s the art of refereeing. That’s what most people want.”

Channel Nine analysts Andrew Johns and Brad Fittler are baffled Cecchin is on the outer with referee bosses, both claiming he has a better “feel” than most.

“He’s the best referee,” Johns said. “He referees exactly the way the game should be refereed. He doesn’t over-referee, he knows when to blow a penalty, when to restart a set, how to converse with the players.”

Cecchin also isn’t easily conned. With seven minutes remaining in the first half of the Penrith-Tigers match on Sunday, Panthers five-eighth Jarome Luai jumped over a Tigers defender, off the mark and then knocked on playing the ball.

“Come on, Cech!” Fittler boomed in commentary. “Sort them out!”

Cecchin sorted it out by ruling a Luai knock on.

“He makes some errors, but they all do,” Fittler said. “Cech has the best feel for the game out of all of them.”

That’s the problem with modern-day refereeing: Cecchin’s bosses judge whistleblowers via spreadsheet, not on whether the game has flowed and the referee has become a silent bystander.

In 2003, then referees boss Robert Finch told Cecchin he’d never make it because he was too pedantic. He ran the line for three years, observing the likes of Bill Harrigan and Tim Mander.

“I learned it wasn’t about being accurate, it was about stepping into the game when it was appropriate,” he said. “And stepping out when appropriate. I had more respect for the game than worrying about myself.”

Fittler says Cecchin became a more confident referee after he came out publicly in 2012 as gay.

“I think so,” Cecchin said. “Before then, a chunk of my melon had apprehension about what people would think. The same way you have with your family and friends before coming out.”

Cecchin has refereed 370 NRL matches (570 in total including games as a touch judge and video referee). He officiated three grand finals, four Origins and 13 Tests.

His legacy?

“I was the first to shake hands with players after game,” he said. “Todd Greenberg saw it and now every referee does it.”

Andrew Webster is Chief Sports Writer of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Share this post