# 2004 Brisbane Broncos season

The 2004 Brisbane Broncos season was the seventeenth in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2004 Telstra Premiership, making it to the finals again, but were knocked out of contention by the North Queensland Cowboys, their first ever loss to the club.

## Season summary

The 2004 NRL season was Darren Lockyer's first in the position of five-eighth and Gorden Tallis' last as captain. The Broncos started the season by defeating the New Zealand Warriors 28-20 in Round 1, only to lose their next match against the Parramatta Eels by 26-18. The Broncos then won their next five matches, including a controversial match against the Tigers, during which the Broncos appeared to field 14 men at one stage of the match. In the 60th minute, Brisbane's Shane Webcke was taken off the ground after being knocked out by Bryce Gibbs; while he was assisted off the field, Corey Parker was brought on, and immediately scored off a Darren Lockyer pass to start a Broncos revival (they trailed 24-8 at halftime) which saw them claim a 32-24 victory. An ensuing investigation saw the Broncos stripped of two competition points, but, following a successful appeal, they were reinstated weeks later.
In round 10, the Broncos and the Newcastle Knights made history by contesting the first ever golden point match on free-to-air television. The Broncos lost the match 16-17 after Newcastle's Kurt Gidley booted a field goal three minutes and 26 seconds into extra time.
The Broncos eventually qualified for the finals for the thirteenth consecutive season after finishing the minor rounds in third place on the ladder (only behind eventual Grand Finalists the Sydney Roosters and the Bulldogs), but would bow out in straight sets, first losing to the Melbourne Storm at home by 31-14 before losing to the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville, in what was captain Gorden Tallis' final game for the club. It also marked the first time the Broncos had lost to the Cowboys, and the first time the Broncos had been held scoreless anywhere in Queensland. With Tallis' retirement at the end of the season, the Broncos' captaincy was passed onto Darren Lockyer.

## Match results

| | Opponent | Result | Bro. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Crowd | Position |
| Trial Match | Melbourne Storm | Win | 14 | 10 | 21 Feb | Stadium Toowoomba | - | - |
| Trial Match | Sydney Roosters | Loss | 12 | 34 | 28 Feb | Dolphin Oval | - | - |
| Rd. 1 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 28 | 20 | 14 Mar | Suncorp Stadium | 28,548 | 4/15 |
| Rd. 2 | Parramatta Eels | Loss | 18 | 26 | 21 Mar | Suncorp Stadium | 23,550 | 6/15 |
| Rd. 3 | Wests Tigers | Win | 32 | 24 | 28 Mar | Campbelltown Stadium | 13,011 | 5/15 |
| Rd. 4 | Melbourne Storm | Win | 34 | 26 | 4 Apr | Suncorp Stadium | 19,334 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 5 | Sydney Roosters | Win | 26 | 14 | 9 Apr | Sydney Football Stadium | 23,118 | 2/15 |
| Rd. 6 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 19 | 12 | 17 Apr | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 25,986 | 1/15 |
| Rd. 7 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 32 | 14 | 25 Apr | Suncorp Stadium | 37,745 | 1/15 |
| Rd. 8 | Bulldogs | Loss | 18 | 25 | 2 May | Telstra Stadium | 17,104 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 9 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 34 | 20 | 9 May | Canberra Stadium | 12,319 | 2/15 |
| Rd. 10 | Newcastle Knights | Loss | 16 | 17 | 14 May | Suncorp Stadium | 32,747 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 11 | Bye | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2/15 |
| Rd. 12^ | St George Illawarra Dragons | Win | 24 | 22 | 28 May | Suncorp Stadium | 27,589 | 2/15 |
| Rd. 13 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Loss | 22 | 30 | 6 Jun | Suncorp Stadium | 26,691 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 14 | Bye | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3/15 |
| Rd. 15^ | Parramatta Eels | Win | 34 | 24 | 19 Jun | Parramatta Stadium | 10,147 | 2/15 |
| Rd. 16 | Canberra Raiders | Loss | 14 | 21 | 27 Jun | Suncorp Stadium | 27,774 | 4/15 |
| Rd. 17 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 48 | 28 | 4 Jul | Suncorp Stadium | 19,942 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 18^ | St George Illawarra Dragons | Win | 28 | 14 | 9 Jul | WIN Stadium | 15,348 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 19 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 16 | 12 | 18 Jul | EnergyAustralia Stadium | 11,271 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 20 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Win | 26 | 12 | 24 Jul | Suncorp Stadium | 23,726 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 21 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Win | 16 | 12 | 31 Jul | Toyota Park | 12,565 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 22 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 21 | 14 | 7 Aug | Suncorp Stadium | 9,710 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 23 | Bulldogs | Loss | 18 | 46 | 15 Aug | Suncorp Stadium | 49,571 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 24 | Wests Tigers | Win | 24 | 20 | 21 Aug | Suncorp Stadium | 26,790 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 25 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Draw | 34 | 34 | 28 Aug | Sydney Football Stadium | 7,049 | 3/15 |
| Rd. 26 | Penrith Panthers | Loss | 20 | 46 | 3 Sep | Penrith Park | 20,043 | 3/15 |
| Qualif. Final | Melbourne Storm | Loss | 14 | 31 | 11 Sep | Suncorp Stadium | 31,100 | - |
| Semi Final | North Queensland Cowboys | Loss | 0 | 10 | 18 Sep | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 24,989 | - |
^ = Game following a State of Origin match

## Ladder

2004 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 710 | 368 | +342 | 42 |
| 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (P) | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 760 | 491 | +269 | 42 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 602 | 533 | +69 | 37 |
| 4 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 672 | 567 | +105 | 34 |
| 5 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 624 | 415 | +209 | 32 |
| 6 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 684 | 517 | +167 | 30 |
| 7 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 526 | 514 | +12 | 29 |
| 8 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 554 | 613 | −59 | 26 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 509 | 534 | −25 | 24 |
| 10 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 516 | 617 | −101 | 24 |
| 11 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 528 | 645 | −117 | 24 |
| 12 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 517 | 626 | −109 | 22 |
| 13 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 615 | 754 | −139 | 22 |
| 14 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 427 | 693 | −266 | 16 |
| 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 455 | 812 | −357 | 16 |

## Scorers

| Player | Tries | Goals | FG | Points |
| Michael De Vere | 8 | 65/82 | 0 | 162 |
| Karmichael Hunt | 15 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Darren Lockyer | 2 | 21/29 | 1 | 51 |
| Craig Frawley | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| Corey Parker | 3 | 13/17 | 0 | 38 |
| Shaun Berrigan | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| Casey McGuire | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| Tonie Carroll | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Stuart Kelly | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Brent Tate | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Gorden Tallis | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Barry Berrigan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Ben Ikin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Carl Webb | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Neville Costigan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Petero Civoniceva | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Dane Carlaw | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Brad Meyers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| David Stagg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Darren Smith | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Gary Tupou | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Motu Tony | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Darren Mapp | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Michael Ryan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Shane Webcke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |

## Honours
### League

* Nil

### Club

* Player of the year: Petero Civoniceva
* Rookie of the year: Karmichael Hunt
* Back of the year: Shaun Berrigan
* Forward of the year: Petero Civoniceva
* Club man of the year: Gorden Tallis