Nine<\/a>.<\/p>\nHe was banned in 2016 over the incident and originally suspended for 18 weeks by NSW Rugby League 4.<\/p>\n
Nean appealed the verdict and was further punished with a two-decade suspension that was only dropped last year.<\/p>\n
The 35-year-old returned to playing with the Dungowan Cowboys last season, making four appearances.<\/p>\n
And he has now been given a contract by the club to continue playing in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m over the moon – for nearly a decade I was banned and thought I would never play footy again,\u201d he told Nine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing I\u2019m happiest about is that I will hopefully get to play with my son Kobhan (aged 17).<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a great kid and playing alongside him will make everything I have been through worthwhile.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was never about the money because there isn\u2019t much of it in bush footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to play the game I love and this contract means the world to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nean was playing for West Tamworth Lions in a grand final against North Tamworth when he was involved in a confrontation with referee James Brown.<\/p>\n
He was one of seven Lions players sent off in game that ended up being abandoned 10 minutes early.<\/p>\n
Nean\u2019s brother Sean was handed a suspended jail sentence for his actions during the contest.<\/p>\n
Sean Nean was banned for 30 years by the Group 4 judiciary after being found guilty of headbutting a rival player and making contact with Brown\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
Matt Nean claimed he never intended to make contact with the ref and vision of the incident appears to support his argument.<\/p>\n
You can watch how the incident unfolded in the player above.<\/p>\n
The NSWRL previously rejected an appeal from Nean\u2019s lawyers to review the ban, prompting campaigns of support for the player.<\/p>\n
Before his suspension was overturned Nean said he wanted the ban lifted so he could watch his children play the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the thing that breaks me the most. When I get told I can\u2019t even spectate, it takes a toll. Not only on me but on my kids and my partner,\u201d he said previously.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy whole family has been affected by this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally published as Footy player banned for 20 years for referee touch wins contract to play again<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A footy player once banned for 20 years has had his playing career resurrected. Matt Nean, who served…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":953035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[435465,520587,378721,290352,129446,520588,309513,520586,104821,89838,293255,444809,380917,452335,465606,520604,380326,520614,520601,379338,381737,520596,442045,520615,64,63,390823,598,520611,74843,83158,3895,520594,9116,104495,200413,520589,1862,388331,520603,378590,438691,520607,36826,520606,520595,403913,409981,520612,520608,761,762,520609,482421,390221,520600,520590,158,520593,520585,520610,5110,520591,85,22410,390357,382205,520599,520616,74713,520597,377724,378680,42593,117951,520598,520613,520602,380406,376983,419278,54798,520605,520592],"class_list":["post-953034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-brother","tag-s-head-matt-nean","tag-s-lawyers","tag-10-minutes","tag-129446","tag-18-weeks","tag-20-years","tag-20-year-ref-touch-ban","tag-104821","tag-89838","tag-30-years","tag-a-confrontation","tag-a-contract","tag-a-footy-player","tag-a-grand-final","tag-a-great-kid","tag-a-referee","tag-a-referee-touch","tag-a-rival-player","tag-a-suspended-jail-sentence","tag-a-toll","tag-a-two-decade-suspension","tag-an-appeal","tag-an-unexpected-change","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bombshell","tag-brown","tag-bush-footy","tag-campaigns","tag-contact","tag-contract","tag-early-nean","tag-footy","tag-footy-player","tag-fortune","tag-four-appearances-and","tag-game","tag-his-actions","tag-his-argument-you","tag-his-children","tag-his-playing-career","tag-his-suspension","tag-last-season","tag-last-year-the-35-year-old","tag-matt-nean","tag-my-kids","tag-my-partner","tag-my-son-kobhan","tag-my-whole-family","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nean","tag-nearly-a-decade","tag-nine-years","tag-nine-he","tag-north-tamworth","tag-nrl","tag-nsw-rugby-league-4-nean","tag-referee-james-brown-he","tag-referee-touch","tag-sean","tag-seven-lions-players","tag-sports","tag-support","tag-the-ban","tag-the-club","tag-the-contest-sean-nean","tag-the-dungowan-cowboys","tag-the-game","tag-the-group-4-judiciary","tag-the-incident","tag-the-money","tag-the-moon","tag-the-most","tag-the-player-above-the-nswrl","tag-the-player-before","tag-the-ref-and-vision","tag-the-sport","tag-the-thing","tag-the-verdict","tag-the-world","tag-this-contract","tag-west-tamworth-lions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=953034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/953035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=953034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=953034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=953034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}