2004 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season

The 2004 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season was the 38th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2004 Telstra Premiership.

2004 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season
NRL Rank11th
2004 recordWins: 10; draws: 0; losses: 14
Points scoredFor: 528 (96 tries, 72 goals); against: 645 (117 tries, 88 goals, 1 field goal)
Team information
CoachStuart Raper
Captain
StadiumToyota Park
Avg. attendance12,489
Top scorers
TriesNigel Vagana (12)
GoalsBrett Kimmorley (40)
PointsBrett Kimmorley (92)
← 2003 2005 →

Season summary

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In the off-season the Sharks signed Stuart Raper as their head coach following the previous season's dismissal of Chris Anderson.

Cronulla did not begin the 2004 season well, losing four or five matches on the trot to be sitting last on the ladder after round five. One early season lowlight was the on-field dismissal of Greg Bird for kneeing Souths' winger Shane Marteene and his subsequent 10-week ban. However, there were some on-field highlights none more so than their round 22 upset of the high-flying Sydney Roosters who were sitting on top of the ladder at the time. They also defeated the likes of the Parramatta Eels at Parramatta Stadium where on their last visit the Sharks were thrashed 74-4 (in fact, Cronulla did not lose again at the venue until 2011), the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval where the Sharks historically have a poor record and the Brisbane Broncos in Brisbane. Otherwise, the season was overall a disappointment; the Sharks missing the finals for the second year in succession however they did improve on their disastrous 12th finish in 2003.

Ladder

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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

References

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