This week saw the announcement from leading NRL Match Official Matt Cecchin that he would retire at the conclusion of the 2021 season, bringing the curtain down on a remarkable career spanning 20 years. 48-year-old Cecchin will take the field for the final time on Saturday night, when the South Sydney Rabbitohs play the St George-Illawarra Dragons at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
Cecchin debuted as a referee in the NRL in July 2001, when the Wests Tigers played North Queensland at Leichardt Oval. He would go on to referee 370 first grade games, with a further 166 as a touch judge and 34 as a video referee. As one of the games top officials throughout this period, he officiated in an incredible 40 finals fixtures, including 24 as a referee and 16 on the sideline. Cecchin refereed 3 NRL Grand Finals (2011, 2016, 2017) and was a touch judge in a further 2. He was an official for 5 State of Origin matches, 4 as a referee and 1 as a touch judge. He also refereed 13 Test Matches. Cecchin was the recipient of the Col Pearce Medal for the 2017 season, recognised as the game’s leading match official.
Cecchin’s contribution to officiating and the wider rugby league community has extended far beyond his on-field achievements. Over the years he has regularly volunteered his time working with non-profit organisations, including Pass it on Clothing, who provide clothing to the homeless in and around Sydney. He is a strong advocate for mental health, who has done significant work in this space for match officials, including as an ambassador for the NRL’s State of Mind Program. Cecchin was a key driver behind the initiative that allowed the elite squad to have access to their own mental health professional on a permanent basis. At the time, he spoke about the increased scrutiny match officials are under in the modern game.
“It’s not just journos, but social media,” he said.
“When I was first in first grade, I had one or two stories written about me a year. Now, there’s hundreds of comments after a game. Younger blokes coming through are exposed to far more than I ever was.”
As the first openly gay match official to reach the top level in rugby league, Cecchin has also been a role model and advocate for inclusion in sport. In 2019, he was asked to provide the keynote address at the Australian Pride in Sports Awards. Speaking on first coming out he said,
“I could just be myself and be respected for what I did in sport.
“And that’s thanks to those before me who were brave, who had to be loud and proud, it’s those people that I have so much appreciation for.
“Role models in society, and very much so in sport, help shape the way people think feel and react.”
Speaking to Andrew Webster from the Sydney Morning Herald after announcing his retirement this week, Cecchin provided great insight into how the game has changed since he first stepped out on Lecihardt Oval 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-slow-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.”
What is clear through the countless tributes and messages from players, administrators and the public alike since the announcement, Cecchin is widely respected and highly regarded across the rugby league community, not just as a match official, but as a person. Despite all of the changes to the way the game is played and officiated, through various interpretations, coaches and management teams, Cecchin’s professionalism and commitment to making a positive contribution to the game and his colleagues has endured.
“Matt has been an outstanding referee, but perhaps more importantly, he is an even more outstanding human being.” said PRLMO Chairman Silvio Del Vecchio.
“We congratulate him on a most stellar career. Our game will miss him very much.”
