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Born | 1973 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [2] As of 11 February 2018 |
Matt Cecchin (born 1973) is an Australian former rugby league referee who officiated in the NRL between 2001 and 2021. Cecchin has officiated international matches at the 2011 Four Nations and 2017 World Cup, and domestic representative matches in all three games of the 2017 State of Origin series.
Cecchin began his career by overseeing Metro Cup matches. [3] He made his first grade debut when he took over from an injured Steve Clark at halftime of a New Zealand Warriors and Northern Eagles match on 1 June 2001. [4] His first full first grade match was on 14 July 2001, when he officiated a match between the Wests Tigers and North Queensland. He controlled 22 matches between 2001 and 2004. [2] In 2003, he was told the only way he would remain an official was to become a touch judge. [3]
Cecchin returned to first grade in 2008 and has been in charge of finals matches since 2009. [2] He controlled the 2011 NRL Grand Final alongside Tony Archer. [5]
Cecchin was appointed to control the 2010 City vs Country Origin match and refereed in the 2011 Four Nations. He controlled one match during the 2012 State of Origin series. [2]
He was awarded his second Grand Final appointed 2016 NRL Grand Final as lead referee along with assistant Ben Cummins. He was appointed lead referee for Game I of the 2017 State of Origin series.
In February 2018, Cecchin refereed one Super League match when Wigan Warriors took their home game against Hull F.C. to WIN Stadium in Wollongong, Australia. [6] [7]
Cecchin's father played reserve grade for the Newtown Jets. [5]
In 2012, Cecchin revealed he was gay, becoming the first NRL official or player since Ian Roberts in 1995 to do so. [8] [5]
Cecchin has revealed having panic attacks before a match. He is a mental health ambassador for rugby league. [9]
Matthew Jeremy Bowen is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia international and Queensland State of Origin representative fullback, he played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for Australian club, the North Queensland Cowboys, with whom he set the club's record for most matches, and in the Super League for English club, the Wigan Warriors. Bowen was the NRL's top try-scorer in the 2005 and 2007 seasons. Former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer has called Bowen a "little freak", citing his skills and dynamism. Two-time premiership winning coach Phil Gould remarked in 2005 that he was a "modern-day icon of the game", saying that "Bowen has unique football instincts. He performs the difficult with ease and some of his feats have redefined what we once believed to be impossible."
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