People get less for murder: Footy player who was banned for 20 YEARS for brushing up against referee fights to clear his name – even if it means going to the Supreme Court
- Footy player from Tamworth in NSW banned for 20 years after on field ‘incident’
- Matthew Nean brushed up against referee James Brown – was sent from the field
- Was in a local grand final back in 2016 – Nean wants ban thrown out or reduced
- NSWRL have rejected multiple appeals, remain adamant conduct was deliberate
- Nean, 31, can’t play again until 2036 – also banned from watching his three kids
A footy player banned for 20 years after making ‘contact’ with a referee is prepared to take the matter to the NSW Supreme Court as he fights to clear his name.
Matthew Nean, 31, was controversially sent off in the 2016 rugby league grand final when representing his beloved West Tamworth Lions, in northeast NSW, versus bitter rivals North Tamworth.
Despite only brushing referee James Brown’s shoulder as he walked past – which Nean insists was an accident – the talented five-eighth was given his marching orders and later charged with contrary conduct.
With an early guilty plea, the father of three was offered an 18-week suspension.
Nean felt that ban was too harsh and opted to fight the charge at a hearing.
Footy player Matthew Nean was banned from playing for 20 years after making ‘contact’ with a referee during a 2016 grand final in Tamworth (pictured)
Referee James Brown sent Nean off, and the five-eighth was later charged with contrary conduct
Long-term partner Teegan Hewson fears for her man’s mental health as footy ‘is his oxygen’
Incredibly, he was found guilty and banned for 20 years.
‘At first I thought it was a joke,’ Nean said. ‘I couldn’t believe what had happened, I was just trying to get my head around it.’
Nean’s partner Teegan Hewson fears for her man’s mental health.
‘We can’t even go and just watch a game of football (due to the ban)… and I can’t sleep at night, I worry about him,’ she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘It’s like taking the oxygen away from him… he was breathing football.’
Nean is also struggling with the fact he is prohibited from coaching or even watching his kids – Kobhan (13), Nixhan (8) and Ainslee (6) – play on Saturday mornings during the season.
Nean was offered an 18-week suspension, but instead opted to fight the charge at a hearing
Incredibly, the father of three was found guilty and banned from playing or watching local footy until 2036 in Tamworth
The heartbroken father would love to coach his kids’ footy teams – but is banned from doing so due to his lengthy suspension
Each time he turns up to a suburban footy ground, a tap on the shoulder follows and the proud dad has to leave.
Dating back to 2016, Nean has made multiple attempts to appeal his lengthy ban with the NSWRL.
All have fallen on deaf ears, with Nean’s legal team, Sports Lawyer, now said to be considering an extension on the statute of limitations to pursue action in the NSW Supreme Court.
When Nean was initially handed the whopping ban, the late Country Rugby League boss Terry Quinn labelled the playmaker a ‘repeat offender’ when it came to his confrontations with officials.
He added Nean’s conduct in the 2016 decider was ‘indefensible’ and deserved the ‘harshest of penalties’.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk