2004 AFL Grand Final

Leading up to the opening bounce and for large portions of the first quarter there were scuffles between players. After Brisbane missed a couple of early shots at goal, Port Adelaide controlled the majority of the quarter, and Josh Carr kicked the first goal on the run after winning a contest at half forward in the 8th minute. Two more goals soon followed, to Brendon Lade in the 12th minute and Warren Tredrea in the 16th minute to open a 19 point lead. Brisbane fought back through Jason Akermanis, who kicked goals in the 20th and 23rd minutes from long set shots to narrow the margin back to 8. At this point, a vicious brawl broke out between Brisbane full forward Alistair Lynch and Port Adelaide defender Darryl Wakelin; immediately after, Lynch limped off the ground under the blood rule, but also having torn his quadricep earlier in the quarter, and he played very little part in the rest of the game. Port Adelaide continued to dominate general play throughout the quarter, and with a late goal from a boundary throw-in to Byron Pickett in the 28th minute, Port Adelaide extended its quarter time advantage to a well-deserved 15 points, Port Adelaide 4.5 (29) lead Brisbane 2.2 (14).

The second quarter continued to be rugged and absorbing. General play started to favour the Lions, but the Lions fell down in the forward line, kicking 0.4 (4) from several chances in the first ten minutes of the quarter; while Port Adelaide capitalised on a reversed free kick against Jason Akermanis in Brisbane's forward line to rebound the length of the ground, finishing with a goal against the run of play to Pickett, extending the Port Adelaide advantage to 18 points.

Brisbane then enjoyed a brief purple patch, kicking four goals in seven minutes to take the lead. The first, to Clark Keating in the 16th minute, came from a solid contested mark in the forward pocket; to Daniel Bradshaw in the 19th minute from a 40m set shot; to Akermanis in the 21st minute, with a snap shot from the boundary line after a boundary throw-in; and finally to Tim Notting in the 22nd minute after he roved a goal square marking contest. Toby Thurstans (Port Adelaide) kicked a steadying goal from a coast-to-coast play in the 26th minute, and Brisbane led the game by one point at half time, Brisbane 6.7 (43) led Port Adelaide 6.6 (42).

In an even start to the third quarter, Thurstans kicked his second goal in the 2nd minute of the third quarter to regain the lead for Port Adelaide, before Notting kicked two goals on the run in two minutes to regain a six point lead for Brisbane. Pickett kicked his third goal in the 8th minute after winning a high tackle free kick at centre half-forward; and Daniel Bradshaw kicked another for Brisbane in the 10th minute from a 45m set shot to restore Brisbane's six point lead. The two teams then settled into a tight arm wrestle, each kicking one behind over the following ten minutes.

Then, Port Adelaide enjoyed a strong end to the quarter, kicking four goals in the final ten minutes of the quarter to open up a three goal lead. Josh Mahoney kicked the first in the 22nd minute after marking 30m from goal; Gavin Wanganeen kicked the second in the 25th minute with a mark from the same position; Shaun Burgoyne kicked the third in the 28th minute after roving a ruck contest in the forward pocket; and Wanganeen kicked the fourth in the 30th minute on the run after marking in the forward pocket. Brisbane had one chance in the final minute, Akermanis missing a snap shot from the pocket, and Port Adelaide led by 17 points at three-quarter time, Port Adelaide 12.8 (80) led Brisbane 9.9 (63).

In the critical opening of the final quarter, Port Adelaide struck quickly, Gavin Wanganeen roving at full forward after Shaun Burgoyne created a turnover to kick his third goal in the second minute; and then Wanganeen again in the sixth minute to kick his fourth goal from 45m in general play. At this stage, Port Adelaide led by 29 points, having kicked six goals – four by Wanganeen – inside fifteen minutes either side of three quarter time. It was a premiership-winning burst against which Brisbane could not recover. Bradshaw kicked a goal in the 9th minute from a turnover to bring the margin back to 22 points, but after Thurstans kicked his third goal in the 13th minute, any Brisbane resistance ended. Port Adelaide kicked two more goals – to Stuart Dew in the 23rd minute and Adam Kingsley in the 25th minute – eventually winning by a comfortable 40 points, Port Adelaide 17.11 (113) d. Brisbane 10.13 (73).[3]

Following the match, Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams was quite animated, his celebrations including a speech on the dais in which he uttered the now-famous words "Allan Scott – you were wrong!", in reference to a comment made by Scott (a sponsor of the Port Adelaide Football Club), earlier in the 2004 season, that the club could not win a premiership under the coaching of Williams. Williams also made a mock choking gesture by holding his tie above his head like a noose as he stepped onto the arena, a reference to the breaking of Port Adelaide's reputation as "chokers" – which had been acquired after having losing in the previous two finals series, despite dominating the home and away seasons in those years.

Byron Pickett, a premiership winning defender with North Melbourne in 1999, turned into a match-winning on-baller for the Power, and capped his day with being awarded the Norm Smith Medal for being judged the best player afield. His match statistics were: 19 kicks, 1 handball, 8 marks, 2 tackles, 3 goals and 2 behinds.

Alistair Lynch was reported several times for his fight with Darryl Wakelin, and was ultimately suspended for 10 weeks and fined $15,000 – although, as he retired after the game, he did not end up serving the suspension. Lynch later noted that he mentally snapped after having injured his quad early in the game triggered, and that his poor spectacle remains one of his greatest career regrets.[4] Additionally, Jonathan Brown was suspended for five matches and fined $3000 for striking and wrestling with Josh Carr, Simon Black was suspended for a total of three matches on two separate striking charges, Darryl Wakelin was fined $5000 for wrestling with Lynch, and Josh Carr was fined $2400 for wrestling Brown.[5][6]

Following this game, the AFL introduced doubled tribunal penalties for indiscretions in the grand final, in an attempt to protect the spectacle of the grand final to its global audience.[4] As of 2020, the 2004 incidents remain the last major grand final brawls.