Ref apologises to Bulls over blunder

The St Helens official caused a storm of controversy when he awarded a last-minute touchdown to Leeds substitute Jordan Tansey instead of referring it to video referee Ashley Klein. And slow-motion replays indicated that Tansey was clearly offside as he chased captain Kevin Sinfield's penalty kick at goal which rebounded off a post.

Ganson declined to comment after the match, but said on Monday: "After reviewing the video footage from the game it is clear that I made the wrong decision in awarding Jordan Tansey's try. In hindsight, I wish I had referred the decision to the video referee."

He added: "At the time, my focus was on ensuring that the Bradford Bulls players were not putting off the kicker, rather than ensuring all the Leeds Rhinos players were onside.

"I didn't refer the decision to the video referee as both touch judges, who were stood behind the posts awaiting the conversion, had a good view of the grounding.

"I didn't feel the need to check for offside as it's very rare that players from the attacking side are in front of the kicker. However, the video footage shows that I was wrong not to do so as a number of Leeds players were offside.

"I would now like to offer an unreserved apology to all those concerned, especially the players, officials and supporters of the Bradford Bulls."

Stuart Cummings, the RFL's match officials director, said: "Steve is one of the most experienced officials in the game and is highly regarded around the world.

"He's big enough to accept he's made a mistake and was the first to hold his hands up this morning when we reviewed the video footage.

"At each rugby game there are three teams, two competing clubs and a team of match officials, all of whom are human beings who can make mistakes at any stage during the course of the game. Unfortunately some are more costly than others, and it is very regrettable that, in this case, it was so significant."