Rugby league has been Matthew Nean’s life for as long as he can remember.
He started playing for West Tamworth Lions when he was five, played representative football in under-18s and trained with the Cronulla Sharks one pre-season. After returning home to Tamworth, he won five consecutive grand finals with his hometown club.
Former West Tamworth Lions player Matthew Nean with children Kobhan (13), Nixhan (8) and Ainslee (6). Credit:Andrew Pearson
At 31, he is in the “best shape of his life”, and wants to coach and one day play with his sons Kobhan and Nixhan, who are already showing glimpses of their father’s on-field talents.
But Nean is banned from playing rugby league for another 14 years. He will be 45 before he can play again. He is also prevented from coaching, and as a spectator has been barred from watching his sons play at local grounds.
“I go to watch a game and just get settled in, put sunscreen on the kids and everything, and next minute we have to leave – someone’s tapped me on the shoulder and said I’m not allowed to be there,” Nean says. “I’m not trying to cause a scene, I just want to watch my kids play.”
In 2016, Nean was sent off for making contact with referee James Brown in a fiery grand final against crosstown rivals North Tamworth, which was called off 10 minutes early after six of his West Lions teammates were also sent off. He was charged with contrary conduct and initially offered an 18-week suspension with an early guilty plea. He decided to fight the charge at a hearing and when he was found guilty, he was banned for 20 years.
“At first I thought it was a joke,” Nean says. “I couldn’t believe what had happened, I was just trying to get my head around it. I reckon [that night] I cried a sleepless night.”
Nean has made multiple attempts to appeal his ban since, but with the deadline for legal action fast approaching, he is mounting one final push to clear his name.
His lawyers, Melbourne-based firm Sports Lawyer, contacted the NSWRL in March 2022 asking them to review the decision. The NSWRL has so far refused the request, and his lawyers are now weighing up whether to seek an extension on the statute of limitations to pursue Supreme Court action.
Nean does not deny making contact with the referee but said it was accidental. Two video angles show Nean with his head down, brushing against Brown as the referee signalled for a penalty.
“It’s like taking the oxygen away from him … he was breathing football.”
Teegan Hewson, partner of Matthew Nean
According to Nean and former club secretary Julie Woods, who acted as Nean’s spokesperson during the hearing, the panel did not allow him to use video footage of the incident as evidence in his defence.
The NSWRL declined to respond to detailed questions, with chief executive David Trodden saying it was “not a matter that [NSWRL] would ever engage in public commentary on”.
Matthew Nean is fighting a 20-year ban from rugby league handed down in 2016.Credit:Andrew Pearson
At the time, Country Rugby League chief executive Terry Quinn (who died in September, aged 68) said Nean’s conduct was indefensible and deserved the “harshest of penalties”.
“In the case of Matt Nean, you are talking about a repeat offender who had only just returned from serving a long suspension for a similar offence,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
Nean does not deny having prior history with referees, but said he has worked hard to rebuild his reputation in the community following his ban. He currently works for the Aboriginal Land Council, where he is a community mentor to Indigenous youth.
“I’ve done a lot of stuff behind closed doors,” he said. “I just want to give back. I want to coach kids in minor league, but I can’t because of my suspension.”
Teegan Hewson, Nean’s partner of 16 years, said the impact on his mental health and their family life had been devastating.
“We used to have a game-day ritual the night before. I’d pack all his stuff, I’d pack a bag for the kids, we would get excited to go to the football,” Hewson said. “Matthew would do something amazing on the field and the whole crowd would cheer, and I’d be so proud.
“But then to see that in reverse, and we can’t even go and just watch a game of football … and I just can’t sleep at night worrying about him and his mental health.
“It’s like taking the oxygen away from him … he was breathing football.”
Nean said joining the gym and focusing on family life has helped him get through his depression. He also plays and occasionally referees games of touch football.
Even if he does return to rugby league, it won’t be with West Lions. The club, which drew many of its players from West Tamworth’s Indigenous community, folded in 2017.
Chris Hunt, Nean’s former partner in the halves at West Lions, said the ban had stripped his former teammate of an integral part of his identity and community.
“Being an Aboriginal bloke myself, football is life, you know. That’s all we’ve grown up to do, and it’s given us that bit of stability and structure,” he said. “With Matt, he’s lost all of that.”
Nean said he hasn’t lost his touch despite six years on the sidelines.
“I’ve never played chess, but I see people playing it, and [I’m] a bit like that. I know where to go before the next move. It’s just in my blood,” Nean says. “I want to play football again. I miss it so much.”
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