Referees boss Steve Ganson makes surprising admission about Super League officials’ wages

Without referees, rugby league would not be possible.

They are an integral part of the sport, yet they are repeatedly the centre of attention for making human errors – despite being right on the overwhelming majority of decisions.

Referees boss Steve Ganson spoke about the accountability of officials and what they have to go through after a game.

“The Match Review Panel are an independent body and we operate within the rules and guidelines that the RFL sets out,” Ganson said on the Sin Bin podcast.

“They are two completely different bodies, but the referee will review his performance minute by minute and every basic decision he makes.

“He will complete a big spreadsheet minute by minute.

“One of the difficult thing reviewing minute by minute is you have a personal belief of what is right and it’s difficult to step back and say ‘I could have managed things differently.’

“Referees are critical of themselves, they are aware of social media and the talk around the game.

“They have a coach including myself who looks at everything then we have a review in a group.”

Ganson also revealed that referees’ pay is not linear and that it is based on performances.

“People think a referee turns up does his job and goes away and gets a game the next week.

“If people look at rosters they will see that referees miss games – they are also paid by performance.

“If they referee major games and perform the best they get the best in terms of contract the year after.

“Referees are held to account for their performances and it does financially affect referees in some respect.”