Section 10 rule 4 states:

"Heading the ball 4. It is illegal to head the ball in a forward direction."

Any refs care to clarify as there is no mention of the word deliberate or accidental in there?

Unless the word 'accidental' is used in the rules all actions are deemed deliberate.

It's legal if it's accidental. I've seen it happen before once or twice, usually off a prop who doesn't know how to time a dummy run

So next weeks the set move on the last play is to play off the chest, because eventually one will be deemed accidental... I also think picking up players from the ground and throwing them in goal is accidental too

Presume you're referring to Bowen just before? I've got to admit my first thought at the time was 'involuntary tackle'

It may have been and yet another decision Bentham ignored. However after Silverwoods performance the other night Bentham had free reign to do whatever he liked like night knowing hes already got the final in the bag.

What's an involuntary tackle?

Bowen was tackled as soon as Atkins laid a hand on him, should've been a penalty. I also think the player who headed the ball was stood infront of the passer so should've been offside. Oh well.

That passage of play was the most colossal pile of refereeing bull that I've ever seen and the fact the video ref allowed the try showed us how vulverable this system is. Conspiracy theories to one side how comes all the officials broke down at the same time? We all saw it was everything but a try. The rules are simple and they complicated them by trying to interpret them in a clever fassion, common sense just evapourated.
Instant insanity - just put the officials under pressure

charnley was penalised in last years GF for the same thing

No he was not.

Charnley got penalised for dragging the player over the line.

Atkins was pushing Bowen which is not illegal but dragging a player is. Fact the tackle was complete on Bowen once Atkins touched him and then pushed him over is another matter.

My initial thought was that Bentham bottled it & sent it to the VR knowing full well that he couldn't adjudicate on a forward pass & thus all he would be able to look at was the grounding, which, in isolation, was ok. Result: try.
I'm still not convinced otherwise - here's hoping the chairmen grow a collective pair & demand improvements before it all starts over in Feb (won't hold me breath though).