Referees’ Boss Tony Archer has defended officials Gerard Sutton and Ben Cummins after their performance in State of Origin Game III where the whistle blowers hammered Queensland in the penalty count.

“Going into game two, I reminded the referees that if there were infringements in the ruck or on the 10 metres, my expectation is that they are penalised to ensure a flow to the game,” Archer said.

“There was a period where NSW were in a strong attacking position, there’s four penalties in about seven or eight minutes.

“I expected the referees to penalise those that infringe and was comfortable with what they did in that period of the game.”