The final game of Matt Cecchin's career was a match in the National Rugby League.
The guard of honour brought things home for Matt Cecchin.
"My head coach came on and gave me a hug and said to me: 'Get away, I'm starting to cry,'" Cecchin says.
It was the perfect way to finish, and I never expected it. If that is the last game I referee, I couldn't have asked for a better one.
Four months after that emotional night, Cecchin has been talking to the LGBT SportPodcast about his career as a referee and his journey off and on the pitch.
It wasn't until I said it out loud that I realized I've been lucky.
The Wales vs New Zealand game in the Four Nations was overseen by Cecchin.
Cecchin made his top-class debut as a referee in 2001.
The Australian refereeed at the World Cup and the Four Nations, as well as taking charge of four State of Origin games and three NRL Grand Finals.
The game has given Cecchin a great career.
I just finished watching Ted Lasso and there was a scene at Wembley Stadium, and I said to my partner, 'Oh, I've been to a game there!'
I realized I had been so lucky when I said it out loud.
I didn't want to be a gay referee.
Some of Cecchin's most memorable moments have been accompanied by controversy.
He stepped away from the game for a period of time in the year after the World Cup semi-final loss to England in which a late try was ruled out. Police in New Zealand asked Cecchin to stay in his hotel room for his own safety after he received death threats.
In 2012 Cecchin became one of the most high-profile men in Australian sport to come out publicly as gay.
He was in his 30s. He came out to his family in the mid-20s when he was about to marry the mother of his son.
Cecchin says that he didn't know he was gay until he was 25.
I told my family, friends, and my fiancée within two weeks after I identified my engagement ring.
I was afraid of rugby league. It's a pretty brutal sport, and I was worried about how I would be treated.
I wanted to be known as 'Matt the ref'. I didn't want to be known as 'Matt the gay ref', or as the token gay referee, because that would make me look bad.
I was afraid of dealing with homophobic abuse on the pitch.
Cecchin was a referee in the 2000s.
In 2001, Cnecchi told his refereeing colleagues about his sexuality.
A desire to protect his school-age son from unwanted press intrusion meant it was more than a decade before he shared his story publicly.
The feedback was positive when he did it.
"I don't want to downplay the fear of coming out, because it's real and very, very big," the Australian says.
My experience suggests that the reality is not as great as the fear. I get the odd message from people on social media saying it gave them the strength to do this and that, because I've had players on the field calling me 'brave' because I'd come out.
After making his sexuality public, Cecchin had a fear of being abused on the pitch.
"If a player calls me 'tosser' and it comes loudly over the mic and I know it's being transmitted to everyone and showing disrespect, then I have to take strong action towards that player, so that respect level is maintained at the top level," he says.
I had a fear that a player on the field would make a gay comment to me. I was scared about how I would react. Would my reaction be seen as overreacting? Is it possible that I underplayed it?
It stayed with me my entire career. If I were to calculate the percentage of thought I spent on refereeing, I would think about 20% of the time. I know it would have gotten a lot of publicity.
You have to go through that to prove a point and show everyone what it's really like.
I want to do something different.
Cecchin plans to travel around Australia after retiring from refereeing.
After coming out, Cnecchi regrets not using his platform more to speak about issues related to the LGBTQ+ community.
He says giving other people strength wasn't the reason why he did it.
I think I should have been more involved in the community.
The Australian says he and his partner are ready for something new after he retired from his career.
I'm not bitter or twisted about the game, and I feel desperate for a change. He wants to do something different. We've sold the house and we have a caravan. We're taking off for a year without a plan or destination in mind, and we're really looking forward to it.
We'll probably get 100 kilometres up the road, and I'll be saying: "Oh, I don't like this!"
On the LGBT Sport Podcast, Matt Cecchin spoke to Jack Murley. You can listen to new episodes on the radio.
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