# 2004 Sydney Roosters season

The 2004 Sydney Roosters season was the 97th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2004 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 1st, taking out the minor premiership before going on to reach the grand final which they lost to the Bulldogs.

## Results

| Round | Opponent | Result | Syd. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Crowd |
| 1 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 26 | 16 | 14 Mar | Sydney Football Stadium | 16,516 |
| 2 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Win | 42 | 20 | 20 Mar | Brookvale Oval | 18,674 |
| 3 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Win | 35 | 0 | 26 Mar | Sydney Football Stadium | 26,465 |
| 4 | Penrith Panthers | Loss | 6 | 22 | 2 Apr | Telstra Stadium | 25,852 |
| 5 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 14 | 26 | 9 Apr | Sydney Football Stadium | 23,118 |
| 6 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 32 | 22 | 18 Apr | EnergyAustralia Stadium | 22,126 |
| 7 | St George-Illawarra Dragons | Win | 11 | 8 | 25 Apr | Sydney Football Stadium | 26,246 |
| 8 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 28 | 8 | 2 May | Sydney Football Stadium | 11,067 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | Win | 22 | 0 | 8 May | Sydney Football Stadium | 11,789 |
| 10 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 38 | 18 | 15 May | Toyota Park | 14,321 |
| 11 | BYE | | | | | | |
| 12 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 58 | 6 | 30 May | Sydney Football Stadium | 10,078 |
| 13 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Loss | 12 | 40 | 4 Jun | Telstra Stadium | 22,572 |
| 14 | BYE | | | | | | |
| 15 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 48 | 4 | 18 Jun | Sydney Football Stadium | 11,678 |
| 16 | Wests Tigers | Win | 56 | 0 | 25 Jul | Campbelltown Stadium | 18,669 |
| 17 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 32 | 22 | 3 Jul | Sydney Football Stadium | 16,127 |
| 18 | Parramatta Eels | Loss | 12 | 26 | 14 Jul | Parramatta Stadium | 10,118 |
| 19 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Win | 18 | 14 | 16 Jul | Sydney Football Stadium | 27,183 |
| 20 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 22 | 12 | 24 Jul | Sydney Football Stadium | 13,564 |
| 21 | Melbourne Storm | Win | 26 | 10 | 1 Aug | Olympic Park | 10,291 |
| 22 | Cronulla Sharks | Loss | 12 | 26 | 8 Aug | Sydney Football Stadium | 13,742 |
| 23 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 44 | 12 | 13 Aug | Sydney Football Stadium | 27,183 |
| 24 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 38 | 22 | 22 Aug | Canberra Stadium | 15,312 |
| 25 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 24 | 18 | 29 Aug | Ericsson Stadium | 8,019 |
| 26 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 48 | 10 | 5 Sep | Sydney Football Stadium | 24,114 |
| Qualifying Final | Canberra Raiders | Win | 38 | 12 | 12 Sep | Sydney Football Stadium | 18,325 |
| Preliminary Final | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 19 | 16 | 26 Sep | Telstra Stadium |
| Grand Final | Canterbury Bulldogs | Loss | 13 | 16 | 3 Oct | Telstra Stadium | 82,127 |

## Notable events

* Due to a favourable draw, the Sydney Roosters did not play a premiership match in Queensland, although they did play a pre-season match there.
* The Sydney Roosters finished at the top of the table joint with the Bulldogs, but won the minor premiership on percentage.
* The Roosters beat the Wests Tigers twice in 2004 by scorelines of 22–0 and 56-0 in Rounds 9 and 16 respectively. It was the first time in almost 40 years that a single team had held their opponent scoreless over two matches.
* An unsavory incident occurred in Round 3 when a bottle was thrown onto the field as Brett Finch knocked on from the restart in their match against the Bulldogs. He allegedly threw it back to the crowd, and received a warning from the NRL for his actions.
* Justin Hodges was sent off in the team's Round 13 loss to the Bulldogs, costing him his place in that year's Queensland State of Origin side.
* The Roosters trailed 14–0 at halftime in their Round 19 match against the Dragons before coming back to win 18–14.
* Two of the Roosters' losses came against teams that failed to make the finals that year (Parramatta in Round 18 and Cronulla in Round 22). The other three losses were against teams that finished in the top four (Panthers in Round 4, Broncos in Round 5 and Bulldogs in Round 13).
* In June 2004 the Roosters were subject to salary cap troubles which resulted in wooden spoon betting being suspended after a bet of $50 was placed on the Roosters to finish last that season. However, the Roosters were cleared of any salary cap wrongdoing.