2004 NRL 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.[1] 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 A$3.25 million per club for their 25 highest-paid players.[2]

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.[3]

The first round of the season began on Friday, 12 March with 2003 champions, the Penrith Panthers losing 14–20 to the Newcastle Knights before a crowd of 19,936 at Penrith Stadium.[4]

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 knocked out by Tiger Bryce Gibbs. Corey Parker was brought onto the ground while Webcke was 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, after the fourteenth man was investigated, the Broncos were stripped of the two competition points,[5] which were reinstated weeks later.

A significant comeback was 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 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.

Due to a favourable draw, the Sydney Roosters did not play a premiership match in Queensland during the season. Additionally, there was only one Queensland derby contested during the regular season, in round six in Townsville.[6]

Teams

The line-up of fifteen teams for the 2004 premiership remained unchanged from the previous season.

Brisbane Broncos 17th season Ground: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Gorden Tallis			Bulldogs RLFC 70th season Ground: Sydney Showground & Telstra Stadium Coach: Steve Folkes Captain: Steve Price			Canberra Raiders 23rd season Ground: Canberra Stadium Coach: Matthew Elliott Captain: Simon Woolford			Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 38th season Ground: Toyota Stadium Coach: Stuart Raper Captain: Brett Kimmorley
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 55th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Des Hasler Captain: Steve Menzies			Melbourne Storm 7th season Ground Olympic Park Stadium Coach: Craig Bellamy Captain: Stephen Kearney			Newcastle Knights 17th season Ground: EnergyAustralia Stadium Coach: Michael Hagan Captain: Andrew Johns			New Zealand Warriors 10th season Ground: Ericsson Stadium Coach: Daniel Anderson → Tony Kemp Captain: Stacey Jones
North Queensland Cowboys 10th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Graham Murray Captain: Travis Norton			Parramatta Eels 58th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Nathan Cayless			Penrith Panthers 38th season Ground: Penrith Stadium Coach: John Lang Captain: Craig Gower			South Sydney Rabbitohs 95th season Ground: Aussie Stadium Coach: Paul Langmack → Arthur Kitinas Captain: Bryan Fletcher
Sydney Roosters 97th season Ground: Aussie Stadium Coach: Ricky Stuart Captain: Brad Fittler				St. George Illawarra Dragons 6th season Ground: OKI Jubilee Stadium & WIN Stadium Coach: Nathan Brown Captain: Trent Barrett				Wests Tigers 5th season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Scott Sattler & Darren Senter

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-Sutherland	24	10	0	14	2	528	645	−117	24
12	Parramatta	24	9	0	15	2	517	626	−109	22
13	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	6	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

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 upsetting 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 Cowboys vs Broncos semi-final was originally fixtured to be played at Aussie Stadium, however, at the behest of both clubs, and in accordance with Aussie Stadium management, the NRL agreed to move the game to Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville.[9] The Cowboys won the game 10–0, giving them their first ever win over the Broncos and eliminating from the finals in the process. The game was Broncos' captain and club legend Gorden Tallis' last, who coincidentally was born and raised in Townsville.[10]

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 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 RLFC	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

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.

Finals Chart

	Qualifying Finals					Semi Finals					Preliminary Finals					Grand Final
	1	Sydney	38
	8	Canberra	12
											1W	Sydney	19
	2	Canterbury	22			4W	North Queensland	10				North Queensland	16
	7	North Queensland	30			2L	Brisbane	0									Sydney	13
																	Canterbury	16
	3	Brisbane	14								2W	Penrith	14
	6	Melbourne	31			3W	Melbourne	18				Canterbury	30
						1L	Canterbury	43
	4	Penrith	31
	5	St. George Illawarra	30

• NRL official website