2004 NRL season
| 2004 National Rugby League | |
|---|---|
| File:NRLlogo.gif Logo of the NRL | |
| Teams | 15 |
| Premiers | File:Canterbury colours.png Bulldogs (8th title) |
| Minor premiers | File:Eastern Suburbs colours.png Sydney (16th title) |
| Matches played | 189 |
| Points scored | 9086 |
| Attendance | 2942231 |
15 clubs contested the seventh National Rugby League season, the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia. The Bulldogs defeated the Sydney Roosters in the grand final, claiming their eighth premiership in the club's history. It was the Roosters' second grand final loss in a row.
Season Summary
2004 was also notable for the emergence of teenage players Sonny Bill Williams (Bulldogs) and Karmichael Hunt (Brisbane Broncos), and their performances, mature beyond their years, would be critical to the fortunes of their clubs.
The beginning of the season was largely overshadowed with several Bulldogs players questioned by police in relation to an alleged rape of a 20-year old Coffs Harbour woman. An independent investigator, former New South Wales chief of detectives, would later fail to find any evidence of misconduct on behalf of the players, and no charges were pressed.
It would not be the last unsavoury headline for rugby league in 2004, with a crowd incident at a Bulldogs-Roosters game on March 26, whilst two New South Wales State of Origin players were stood down from the squad on May 21 for unprofessional conduct.
Rounds 15-16 saw the Wests Tigers kept to zero whilst conceding over 50 points in the space of six days (Dragons 50-0, 20/6/04, Roosters 56-0, 25/6/04). They were also kept to zero by the Sydney Roosters twice in 2004, losing 22-0 in round 9 and 56-0 in round 16. The Tigers have won every match against the Roosters since.
Several players and coaches also made the headlines for the wrong reasons. Jamie Lyon walked out on the Parramatta club after the first round citing burnout and dissatisfaction with living in Sydney, and would later be linked with Manly in 2006. Daniel Anderson and Paul Langmack would have their contracts terminated at the New Zealand Warriors and South Sydney Rabbitohs respectively.
Andrew Johns was injured in Newcastle's third game of the season against Parramatta, and subsequently missed the remainder season. The Knights missed the finals of the NRL for the first time since 1996.
The North Queensland Cowboys qualified for the finals for the first time in their ten-year history, and shocked everybody by finishing just one game short of the grand final. During the finals, they won their first ever game against Queensland rivals, Brisbane, thus ending the career of Broncos stalwart Gorden Tallis. Also retiring in 2004 were Brad Fittler, Ryan Girdler, Kevin Campion, Scott Sattler and Robbie O'Davis.
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | File:Eastern Suburbs colours.png Sydney | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 710 | 368 | +342 | 42 |
| 2 | File:Canterbury colours.png Bulldogs | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 760 | 491 | +269 | 42 |
| 3 | File:Brisbane colours.png Brisbane | 24 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 602 | 533 | +69 | 37 |
| 4 | File:Penrith colours.png Penrith | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 672 | 567 | +105 | 34 |
| 5 | File:St. George Illawarra colours.png St George Illawarra | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 624 | 415 | +209 | 32 |
| 6 |  Melbourne
|
24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 684 | 517 | +167 | 30 |
| 7 |  North Queensland
|
24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 526 | 514 | +12 | 29 |
| 8 | File:Canberra colours.png Canberra | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 554 | 613 | -59 | 26 |
| 9 | File:Wests Tigers colours.png Wests Tigers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 509 | 534 | -25 | 24 |
| 10 | File:Newcastle colours.png Newcastle | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 516 | 617 | -101 | 24 |
| 11 | File:Cronulla colours.png Cronulla | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 528 | 645 | -117 | 24 |
| 12 | File:Parramatta colours.png Parramatta | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 517 | 626 | -109 | 22 |
| 13 | File:Manly colours.png Manly | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 615 | 754 | -139 | 22 |
| 14 | File:New Zealand colours.png New Zealand | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 427 | 693 | -266 | 16 |
| 15 | File:South Sydney colours.png South Sydney | 24 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 455 | 812 | -357 | 16 |
2004 Finals Series
| Home¹ | Away¹ | Referee | Venue | Crowd | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QF | Penrith | 31 | St Geo. Illa. | 30 | S.Hampstead | Penrith Stadium | 21 963 |
| QF | Brisbane | 14 | Melbourne | 31 | S.Clark | Suncorp Stadium | 31 100 |
| QF | Bulldogs | 22 | North Qld | 30 | T.Mander | Telstra Stadium | 18 371 |
| QF | Syd.Roosters | 38 | Canberra | 12 | P.Simpkins | Aussie Stadium | 18 375 |
| SF | North Qld | 10 | Brisbane | 0 | T.Mander | Dairy Farmers Stadium² | 24 989 |
| SF | Bulldogs | 43 | Melbourne | 18 | P.Simpkins | Aussie Stadium | 23 750 |
| PF | Penrith | 14 | Bulldogs | 30 | T.Mander | Aussie Stadium | 37 868 |
| PF | Syd.Roosters | 19 | North Qld | 16 | P.Simpkins | Telstra Stadium | 43 048 |
| GF | Syd.Roosters | 13 | Bulldogs | 16 | T.Mander | Telstra Stadium | 82 127 |
¹ Home field advantage applies only for quarter-finals, with remaining games played at neutral venues, unless otherwise notified. The home team in each instance is the higher ranked team on the competition table.
² Game relocated to Dairy Farmers Stadium, the Cowboys' home ground, from Aussie Stadium. Cowboys designated home team despite the Broncos finishing higher on the table.