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2004 NRL season

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2004 National Rugby League
File:NRLlogo.gif
Logo of the NRL
Teams15
PremiersFile:Canterbury colours.png Bulldogs (8th title)
Minor premiersFile:Eastern Suburbs colours.png Sydney (16th title)
Matches played189
Points scored9086
Attendance2942231

15 clubs contested the 7th NRL season, with the Bulldogs defeating the Sydney Roosters in the grand final and claiming their eighth premiership in club history. It was the Roosters' second grand final loss in a row.

Season Summary

2004 was also notable for the emergence of 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 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 (Penrith), Kevin Campion (North Queensland), Scott Sattler (Wests Tigers) and Robbie O'Davis (Newcastle).

The Bulldogs won a dramatic grand final against the Sydney Roosters 16-13, with Willie Mason winning the Clive Churchill Medal.

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 indicident 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.

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 would be injured in Newcastle's third game of the season against Parramatta, and subsequently miss the remainder season. The Knights missed the finals of the NRL for the first time since 1996.

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 Canterbury 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 Canterbury 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 Canterbury 43 Melbourne 18 P.Simpkins Aussie Stadium 23 750
PF Penrith 14 Canterbury 30 T.Mander Aussie Stadium 37 868
PF Syd.Roosters 19 North Qld 16 P.Simpkins Telstra Stadium 43 048
GF Syd.Roosters 13 Canterbury 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.

See also

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