Anderson defends hefty penalty count, points to the players infringing On report: Referee Matt Cecchin places Jared Waerea-Hargreaves on report for striking Chris McQueen. Penalties have increased by almost a quarter this season but referees boss Daniel Anderson makes no apologies for the dramatic rise. According to Sportsdata, referees had blown 2431 penalties in 184 NRL matches leading into the final premiership round last weekend. The statistics show an increase of 474 penalties this year compared with the 1957 penalties awarded in the corresponding matches of last season - a 24.2 per cent rise. High arm: Jared Waerea-hargreaves strikes Chris McQueen with his arm. Photo: Matt King There have also been significantly more penalties this season than in 2011 (2204), 2010 (2043) and 2009 (2097). "We're not oblivious to what our influence on the game is and referees don't want to be influential but they just adjudicate the game as it is drawn to them," Anderson said when told of the statistics by Fairfax Media. There is no mandate that referees have got to give few or more penalties, they are told just to adjudicate the game. That has been from round one and it has never changed. We haven't had crackdowns or changes in philosophy, we have made adjustments but we have just adjudicated the game and if it has warranted 10 penalties then 10 penalties have been given and if it has warranted 20 penalties then 20 penalties have been given. No referee has been told to keep count of penalties or square them up, each game is just adjudicated as it is. There has also been numerous games this season in which more than 20 penalties have been awarded, including the clash between South Sydney and Manly in round seven. Despite 23 penalties being blown, Anderson said that was still a quality match and he had no concerns that high penalty counts could mar the finals series starting on Friday night. "I know it is not a great look to have referees blowing the whistle all the time but it doesn't necessarily detract from the game and I guess we have got to do that so the players know where the line is," he said. No one wants the flow of the game to be interrupted but do we just allow teams to infringe? There is a balance, but we have got a responsibility to the laws of the game to adjudicate so it is lawful and legal. I'd love for there to be five penalties in a game and a great flow but the teams, the coaches ... everyone has an obligation to the flow of the game - it is not just the referees. Referees don't want to give penalties. They don't go in there saying we are going to give 15 penalties this game, they go in there thinking hopefully we don't have to give any penalties.