Death threats and ongoing criticism force Cecchin to quit the NRL
By Andrew Webster
2 August 2018 — 8:26pm
Matt Cecchin was in the bar of an Auckland hotel hours after the World Cup semi-final between Tonga and England last November when his phone rang. It was the New Zealand Police.
“We’ve picked up hundreds and hundreds of messages and they are death threats,” the leading referee was told. “We’ve contacted your family members because they have been targeted as well. Don’t leave the hotel. We will pick you up and take you to the airport. Back in Australia, you’ll be picked up by the Australian Federal Police.”
Earlier that night, NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg had given Cecchin a high five, congratulating him for making the brave — and correct — decision in the final minutes to disallow a try to Tongan prop Andrew Fifita after the ball was stripped from him near the tryline. Cecchin didn’t refer the decision to the video referee but made the call himself.
“That’s what I want you guys to do,” Greenberg told him. “Back yourself.”
Others viewed it differently. The sheer volume of messages to Cecchin’s social media accounts, and that of his family, set off alarms with the police.
“My son got hit, my partner got hit and my mum got hit with death threats,” Cecchin, 44, reveals. “I started thumbing through my phone and there were more than a thousand messages. They were vile. I’ve never had that before in my whole career, even after Origins and grand finals. When I got home to Sydney, our house was put on alert. I was picked up from the airport by the AFP. It was really, really serious. I don’t like attention as a referee. I want to do my job without any fuss and then leave. The reality is that after that game, and for the first chunk of this year with all the noise that’s been out there, it’s been tough. Really, really tough.”
Cecchin will referee his 300th NRL game this Sunday when Penrith play Canberra at Panthers Stadium and it will be one of his last. He’ll retire at the end of the season, possibly heading to the Super League in the UK if an opportunity arises. If it doesn’t, he won’t referee again and he won’t stay involved with rugby league.
“I’m done,” he says.
Cecchin has spoken in the past about his battle with mental illness, explaining to Fairfax Media last year how he almost faked an injury because he didn’t want to take control of a match at Shark Park because of his anxiety.
“I feel bad when I f..k up,” he says. “I take it to heart if I don’t referee well.”
But this season has been different. This season has been so heavy he’s needed to talk twice a day to his sport therapist, Rosie Stanimirovic. The NRL’s head of football, Brian Canavan, checks in daily.
The “noise” started with the World Cup semi-final but then ramped up when he became the face of Greenberg’s tough edict to enforce a stricter interpretation of the play-the-ball with more use of the sin-bin when necessary.
Cecchin blew 33 penalties in the round-four match against Cronulla and Melbourne. The players became so frustrated that a fight erupted.
Perception is everything in this game. Many of us assumed it was Cecchin’s way of making a point to referees bosses Tony Archer and Bernard Sutton that he didn't agree with the penalty blitz; that he was frustrated about being told how to do a job he’s been doing since 2001; that it confirmed he was on the outer as Sutton handed headline matches to his brother, Gerard, ahead of Cecchin, who some believe is the best referee since Bill Harrigan.
“I wouldn’t have the balls to use a game of rugby league to stick it up anyone,” Cecchin laughs. “I was just trying to do the best I could in an environment that was new to me. Because of my position in the squad, I had to conform because I didn’t want to be the outlier. I could’ve easily said, ‘No, I want to referee the way I’ve always wanted and the way I’ve been successful’. But it would be unfair on the rest of the squad to not referee consistently. To do that, it was to my own personal detriment but I’ve got no regrets because we stayed together and stuck close.”
A few days after that match, Cecchin and Bernard Sutton flew to Melbourne for a Storm training session.
“Sorry about the fight at the end,” Melbourne captain Cameron Smith said to Cecchin.
“Cam, I wanted to join you,” Cecchin laughed back. “I was frustrated as well.”
Cecchin tells you all this earlier this week over coffee outside an inner-city café, completely content with his decision. Simply, he feels free.
“Just the noise affects me now,” he says. “In the past, when it has, Rosie and I have a chat, she dusts me off and I go out and do an Origin or grand final until my next mistake. Her and I came to the decision after Origin I that I’m done. And since I’ve made that call, my refereeing seems a lot better.
“I need a long break. Bagging the refs — and even though a lot of the press has been complimentary about me, especially after Origin I — it made me feel like a leper with the squad.
“Bernie met with me before Origin I and said I would be in the pocket [in an NRL match] that weekend, and I left that meeting feeling good because I knew why I didn’t get Origin and what I had to do to improve. When it comes to that, I am OK. The problem after that is the noise. When that noise started, and when I started feeling bad for Gerry [Sutton] and Ash [Klein], that’s when I hit rock bottom. They got no accolades after Origin I at all and that’s because the game was in meltdown about me not getting it.”
Time for the hard questions …
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/de...-cecchin-to-quit-the-nrl-20180802-p4zv6x.html
