2004 NRL season

2004 National Rugby League
File:National Rugby League 2001.png
Teams	15
Premiers	Bulldogs RLFC (8th title)
Minor premiers	Sydney (16th title)
Matches played	189
Points scored	9086
Attendance	2942231
Top try-scorer(s)	Amos Roberts (23)

The year 2004's National Rugby League season was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the NRL. Fifteen clubs competed for the Telstra Premiership. Eventually the Bulldogs defeated the Sydney Roosters in the grand final and in doing so claimed their eighth premiership.

Pre-season

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.

The 2004 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 13 February 2004, at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, England. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and Penrith Panthers and won by the home team.

The salary cap for the 2004 season was $AU3.25 million per club for their 25 highest-paid players.

Regular season

Due to a perceived emphasis in the game on defence, NRL referees were instructed to call out "surrender tackle" this season when ball carriers submit at the ruck, signalling the defence to slow down the tackle in order for defenders to reset.

During a match between the Broncos and the Tigers, the Broncos fielded 14 men at one stage of the Campbelltown Stadium match. In the 60th minute, Brisbane's Shane Webcke was taken off the ground after being KO'd by Tiger Bryce Gibbs. In the interim, Corey Parker was brought on, with Webcke still being assisted off. Parker immediately scored off a Darren Lockyer pass and started a Broncos revival (they trailed 24-8 at halftime) which later saw them win 24-32. But, an ensuing investigation led the Broncos to be stripped of two competition points, which were reinstated weeks later.

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. An extraordinary scoreline was also seen in a round 25 clash between the St George Dragons and Manly. Trailing 34-10 after 53 minutes the Dragons came back to win the match 36-34. This match stood in second-place in the rankings of the biggest comebacks in Australian premiership history.

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 move to the UK for a successful Europen Super League career. Coaches 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 of the season. The Knights missed the finals of the NRL for the first time since 1996.

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.

All four clubs which had players sent off did not win their matches. The Sharks, Roosters, Storm and Knights all lost in rounds 4, 13, 19 and 24 respectively when they had 12 men on the field.

Teams

The lineup of fifteen teams for the 2004 premiership remained unchanged from the previous season.

Advertising

In 2004 the NRL and their advertising agency MJW Hakuhodo continued with their use of the Hoodoo Gurus' 1987 hit "What's My Scene" with reworked lyrics as "That's My Team".

In addition to the big 60-second season launch TV commercial, three shorter executions were produced: one targeting young men, another targeting women and one aimed at families. In a year where sexual assault allegations damaged perceptions and the reputation of the code, retaining female fans was seen as a massive challenge..

Records set in 2004

• Hazem El Masri's tally of 342 points from 2004 still stands as the individual record for most points scored in a season in Australian club rugby league history.
• Sydney Roosters lost their 14th Grand Final, the most Grand Final losses by any club.
• The St. George Illawarra Dragons's club record for their biggest comeback was set at 24 points when they came from 34-10 down with only 25 minutes remaining to win 36-34 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
• The Brisbane Broncos' 10-0 loss to the Cowboys was their first ever against the Townsville-based club, and the first time they had been held scoreless in Queensland.
• The Wests Tigers were held scoreless in consecutive weeks (rounds 15 and 16), those two rounds, the Tigers conceded 50+ points, a 50-0 loss to St. George Illawarra Dragons in round 15 and a 56-0 loss to the Sydney Roosters in round 16. Also the Tigers were held scoreless twice against the Roosters, the other time, a 22-0 scoreline in round 9.
• The North Queensland Cowboys' round 25 clash against the Wests Tigers was their first match broadcast by the Nine Network since round 1, 1995.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Sydney	24	19	0	5	2	710	368	+342	42
2	Bulldogs	24	19	0	5	2	760	491	+269	42
3	Brisbane	24	16	1	7	2	602	533	+69	37
4	Penrith	24	15	0	9	2	672	567	+105	34
5	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	Canberra	24	11	0	13	2	554	613	-59	26
9	Wests Tigers	24	10	0	14	2	509	534	-25	24
10	Newcastle	24	10	0	14	2	516	617	-101	24
11	Cronulla	24	10	0	14	2	528	645	-117	24
12	Parramatta	24	9	0	15	2	517	626	-109	22
13	File:Manly colours.svg Manly-Warringah	24	9	0	15	2	615	754	-139	22
14	New Zealand	24	6	0	18	2	427	693	-266	16
15	South Sydney	24	5	2	17	2	455	812	-357	16

Ladder Progression

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
• Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
1	Sydney	2	4	6	6	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	26	28	28	30	32	34	34	36	38	40	42
2	Bulldogs	2	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	38	38	40	42
3	Brisbane	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	18	20	22	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	34	36	37	37
4	Penrith	0	2	4	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	18	18	20	22	22	22	24	26	26	28	28	30	32	34
5	St. George-Illawarra	0	2	2	4	6	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	20	20	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34
6	Melbourne	2	2	4	4	4	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	20	22	22	22	24	24	24	26	28	30	30
7	North Queensland	0	2	2	2	4	4	4	6	8	9	9	11	13	15	17	17	17	17	19	21	23	23	25	25	27	29
8	Canberra	2	2	4	6	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	20	20	22	22	22	22	22	24	26
9	Wests	2	2	2	4	4	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	16	16	18	18	20	22	24	24	24	24
10	Newcastle	2	4	4	4	6	6	6	8	10	12	14	14	14	14	14	16	16	18	18	18	20	22	22	22	22	24
11	Cronulla-Sutherland	0	0	2	2	2	4	6	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	14	16	18	20	20	20	20	22	22	24	24	24
12	Parramatta	0	2	4	4	6	8	8	8	10	10	10	10	12	14	14	14	14	16	16	16	16	18	20	22	22	22
13	Manly-Warringah	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	12	14	14	16	16	18	20	20	22
14	New Zealand	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	10	10	10	12	12	14	14	16	16	16	16	16	16
15	South Sydney	0	2	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	9	11	13	13	13	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16

Finals series

To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, the NRL adopts the McIntyre Final Eight System.

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 after the 2004 finals series were Brad Fittler, Ryan Girdler and Kevin Campion.

St. George Illawarra Dragons almost capped a remarkable comeback when they trailed 24-0 only after half an hour of play to come back to only lose 31–30 against the Penrith Panthers in the first Qualifying Final. In doing so the Dragons became the first team to finish fifth to bow out after the first week of the finals, giving Penrith a home preliminary final; despite leading 8-4 at halftime in their preliminary final against the Bulldogs, they lost 30-14, thus ending their premiership defence.

Another notable game was the seventh-placed North Queensland Cowboys reaching the finals for the first time and upsettting the second-placed and competition favourites the Bulldogs 30-22 in the 3rd Qualifying Final. The Cowboys also defeated the Brisbane Broncos for the first time ever during the semi finals but were unable to reach the Grand Final when they lost to the Sydney Roosters in the Preliminary Final.

The Bulldogs claimed their 8th premiership title by beating the Roosters in the Grand Final.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
Penrith Panthers	31 – 30	St. George Illawarra Dragons	10 September 2004	Penrith Stadium	Sean Hampstead	21,963
Brisbane Broncos	14 – 31	Melbourne Storm	11 September 2004	Suncorp Stadium	Steve Clark	31,100
Bulldogs RLFC	22 – 30	North Queensland Cowboys	11 September 2004	Telstra Stadium	Tim Mander	18,371
Sydney Roosters	38 – 12	Canberra Raiders	12 September 2004	Sydney Football Stadium	Paul Simpkins	18,375
Semi Finals
North Queensland Cowboys	10 – 0	Brisbane Broncos	18 September 2004	Dairy Farmers Stadium¹	Tim Mander	24,989
Bulldogs RLFC	43 – 18	Melbourne Storm	19 September 2004	Sydney Football Stadium	Paul Simpkins	23,750
Preliminary Finals
Penrith Panthers	14 – 30	Bulldogs RLFC	25 September 2004	Sydney Football Stadium	Tim Mander	37,868
Sydney Roosters	19 – 16	North Queensland Cowboys	26 September 2004	Telstra Stadium	Paul Simpkins	43,048
Grand Final
Sydney Roosters	13 – 16	Bulldogs RLFC	4 October 2004	Telstra Stadium	Tim Mander	82,127

¹ 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.

Grand Final

Sydney Roosters	Position	Bulldogs RLFC
Anthony Minichiello	FB	Luke Patten
Shannon Hegarty	WG	Hazem El Masri
Ryan Cross	CE	Ben Harris
Justin Hodges	CE	Willie Tonga
Chris Walker	WG	Matt Utai
Brad Fittler (c)	FE	Braith Anasta
Brett Finch	HB	Brent Sherwin
Jason Cayless	PR	Mark O'Meley
Craig Wing	HK	Adam Perry
Adrian Morley	PR	Roy Asotasi
Michael Crocker	SR	Willie Mason
Craig Fitzgibbon	SR	Andrew Ryan (c)
Chris Flannery	LK	Tony Grimaldi
Peter Cusack	Bench	Corey Hughes
Anthony Tupou	Bench	Sonny Bill Williams
Chad Robinson	Bench	Reni Maitua
Ned Catic	Bench	Johnathan Thurston
Ricky Stuart	Coach	Steve Folkes

For the second consecutive year, the grand final featured two Sydney-based teams. Pre-match entertainment included a performance by Australian rock band Grinspoon.

First Half

After 13 minutes, Sydney took the first try of the game with Chris Walker scoring the try and Craig Fitzgibbon converting giving Sydney a 6-0 lead. Ten minutes later Canterbury winger Matt Utai scored the first try with Hazem El Masri failing to convert bringing the score back to 6-4. A few minutes later El Mazri levelled the scores at 6-6 with a Penalty Goal. Just after the 30 minute mark, Brett Finch kicked a field goal to give Sydney a narrow 7-6 lead. Two minutes later Anthony Tupou made a 30 metre break for Sydney before passing to team mate Anthony Minichiello to cross under the posts with Fitgibbon convereting to give Sydney a 13-6 lead. At the 37th minute, Minichiello looked to have his second try, but was penalised for an obstruction.

Second Half

Two minutes into the second half, Matt Utai got his second try for Canterbury with Hazem El Mazri converting bringing the score back to 13-12. In the 53rd minute Hazem El Mazri crossed over for Canterbury's third but narrowly missed the conversion giving the Bulldogs the lead 16–13. With one minute left and the score at 16-13, Sydney's Michael Crocker made a half break on the Bulldogs 40 meter line but was tackled by stand in Canterbury Captain Andrew Ryan and losing the ball that gave Canterbury their 8th Premiership. It was also former Australian captain Brad Fittler's last game of football.

16	Bulldogs RFLC
Tries	2 Utai 1 El Masri
Goals	2/3 El Masri
Field Goals
13	Sydney Roosters
Tries	1 Walker 1 Minichello
Goals	2/2 Ftizgibbon
Field Goals	1 Finch

Clive Churchill Medallist: Willie Mason

Half Time: 6 – 13

Referee: Bill Harrigan

Venue: Telstra Stadium, Sydney

Attendance: 82,127

When They Scored

13th – Sydney 6-0 (Walker try, Fitzgibbon goal)
23rd – Sydney 6-4 (Utai try)
27th – Sydney 6-6 (El Masri penalty goal)
31st – Sydney 7-6 (Finch field goal)
33rd – Sydney 13-6 (Minichiello try, Fitgibbon goal)
42nd – Sydney 13-12 (Utai try; El Masri goal)
56th – Bulldogs 16-13 (El Masri try)

External links

• NRL official website
• 2004 NRL Grand Final at sportsphotography.net