Nrl_season_2004

National Rugby League season 2004
Logo of the National Rugby League
Teams	15
Premiers	Bulldogs (8th title)
Minor premiers	Sydney (16th title)
Matches played	189
Points scored	9086 (average 48.074 per match)
Attendance	2,942,231 (average 15,567 per match)
Top points scorer(s)	Hazem El Masri (342 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Amos Roberts (23 tries)

Fifteen 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 and in doing so claimed their eighth premiership.

Season Summary

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.

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 investigation days later stripped the Broncos 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 extra-ordinary 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 stills stands in second-place in the rankings of the biggest comebacks in NRL/NSWRL 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 be linked with Manly in 2006. 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 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.

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.

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 TVC, 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.B&T magazine article 2004.

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.

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	Manly	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

Finals Series

St. George Illawarra Dragons almost capped a remarkable comeback when they trailed 24-0 only after half an hour of play to comeback to only lose 31-30 against the Penrith Panthers in the first Qualifying Final. But the biggest upset of the series was when 7th placed North Queensland Cowboys made it to the Finals for the first time and beat 2nd placed and competiton favourites the Bulldogs 30-22 in the 3rd Qualifying Final. The Cowboys also beat the Brisbane Broncos for the first time ever in the Semi Finals but we unable to make it to their first Grand Final when they lost to the Sydney Roosters in the Preliminary Final.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
Penrith Panthers	31–30	St George Illawarra	10 September 2004	Penrith Football Stadium	Sean Hampstead	21,963
Brisbane Broncos	14–31	Melbourne Storm	11 September 2004	Suncorp Stadium	Steve Clark	31,100
Bulldogs	22–30	North Queensland Cowboys	11 September 2004	Telstra Stadium	Tim Mander	18,371
Sydney Roosters	38–12	Canberra Raiders	12 September 2004	Aussie 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	43–18	Melbourne Storm	19 September 2004	Aussie Stadium	Paul Simpkins	23,750
Preliminary Finals
Penrith Panthers	14–30	Bulldogs	25 September 2004	Aussie 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	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

The Bulldogs ended a season of wildly fluctuating fortunes with a 16-13 win over the Sydney Roosters in the last match played of superstar Brad Fittler\'s glittering 15 season career. Maligned for their disreputable pre-season and incidents of unseemly conduct by players and fans, the Bulldogs showed resilience and character to take out their first premiership since 1995.

The Bulldogs didn\'t have the title secure until the final seconds when second-rower Andrew Ryan ankle-tapped runaway Rooster Michael Crocker in a match winning play. Ryan took over the captaincy from departing prop Steve Price who was ruled out days before the decider after tearing his medial ligament the week before.

It was the Roosters\' second consecutive grand final loss.

Bulldogs 16 (Tries: Utai 2, El Masri. Goals: El Masri 2)

defeated

Sydney Roosters 13 (Tries: Walker, Minichello. Goals: Fitzgibbon 2. Fld Goal: Finch)

Clive Churchill Medallist: Willie Mason

See also

• National Rugby League
• 2004 NRL Finals Series
• Brisbane Broncos 2004

External links

• NRL official website

Sources and Footnotes

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia