2004 AFL Grand Final

2004 AFL Grand Final
Port Adelaide Brisbane Lions 17.11 (113) 10.13 (73)
1 2 3 4 PORT 4.5 (29) 6.6 (42) 12.8 (80) 17.11 (113) BL 2.2 (14) 6.7 (43) 9.9 (63) 10.13 (73)
Date	25 September 2004 (2004-09-25), 2:40pm
Stadium	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Attendance	77,671
Umpires	#5 Mathew James, #10 Brett Allen, #30 Shane McInerney
Coin toss won by	Michael Voss (Brisbane Lions)
Kicked toward	City End
Ceremonies
Pre-match entertainment	Guy Sebastian, The Ten Tenors and David Hobson
National anthem	Guy Sebastian
Accolades
Norm Smith Medallist	Byron Pickett (Port Adelaide)
Jock McHale Medallist	Mark Williams (Port Adelaide)
Broadcast in Australia
Network	Network Ten
Commentators	Anthony Hudson (Host) Tim Lane (Commentator) Robert Walls (Expert Commentator) Christi Malthouse (Boundary Rider) Andrew Maher (Boundary Rider)
← 2003 AFL Grand Final 2005 →

The 2004 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Brisbane Lions, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 2004. It was the 108th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League),^[1] staged to determine the premiers for 2004 AFL season. The match was won by Port Adelaide by a margin of 40 points, marking that club's first AFL premiership victory. It was attended by 77,671 spectators (the lowest grand final attendance since 1991, and the lowest at the MCG since 1948), with the MCG's capacity being reduced due to construction work prior to the 2006 Commonwealth Games.^[2]

Background

This was the first ever AFL Grand Final in which both competing teams were based outside the state of Victoria. Port Adelaide were appearing in their first ever AFL Grand Final, while the Brisbane Lions were attempting to win their fourth consecutive premiership to equal Collingwood's feat of 1927-30.

At the conclusion of the home and away season, Port Adelaide had finished first on the AFL ladder with 17 wins and 5 losses, winning the McClelland Trophy for the third successive year, while Brisbane had finished second with 16 wins and 6 losses. During the 2004 season, Port Adelaide's captain was ruckman Matthew Primus, however he was injured in Round 3 and missed the rest of the season, which meant that forward Warren Tredrea acted as captain.

Port Adelaide beat Geelong by 55 points in the Qualifying Final at AAMI Stadium, which gave them a week off and a place in the Preliminary Final; Port Adelaide then defeated St Kilda by 6 points in a tight Preliminary Final to advance to the Grand Final.

Brisbane thrashed St Kilda by a massive 80 points the qualifying final at the Gabba, and then defeated Geelong by 9 points in the Preliminary Final, which in extremely controversial circumstances, was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, despite Brisbane earning a home preliminary final, a situation which many argue cost Brisbane the premiership.

Match summary

After a rugged, but absorbing first half, the Power proved too strong in the second half, winning comfortably in the end. 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.

The fairytale of the afternoon was the story behind Josh Mahoney, the until then little-known Port forward pocket had been cast aside by Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs in the seven years prior, trying his luck with Essendon's VFL squad in 2001 before switching to Williamstown. He belatedly received a third chance at the highest level, and was instrumental in the Power's third quarter charge.

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!". This was 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". This reputation had been acquired after having lost in several previous finals series, despite dominating the home and away seasons in those years.

Port's victory denied Brisbane its fourth consecutive flag, leaving them one consecutive premiership short of Collingwood's record of four consecutive flags from 1927 to 1930.

Teams

Scorecard

Tribunal

The following week, the AFL Tribunal convened regarding a number of altercations during the Grand Final.

Foremost was the fight between Alastair Lynch and Darryl Wakelin in the 1st Quarter. The Tribunal noted the increased physicality that occurred during Grand Final matches because any penalties for reported offences would only apply to the following season, so they set an example. Lynch, the aggressor in the melee, was suspended 10 matches for his combined offences against Wakelin and fined a total of AU$15,000, although this meant little as Lynch retired after the Grand Final. Wakelin was fined AU$5,000 for wrestling and attempting to strike Lynch. To help reduce this aggression, the AFL established a new rule called the double penalty that would effectively double the severity (and the potential suspension) of any offence that occurred during a Grand Final.

In addition, the Tribunal ruled on other incidents:

• Jonathan Brown pleaded guilty to a charge of striking Carr and was suspended for five games then was convicted of wrestling and was fined AU$3,000.
• Josh Carr was fined a total of AU$2,400 after pleading guilty to two wrestling incidents.
• Simon Black was convicted and suspended a total of three matches for two striking incidents.^[3]

See also

• AFL Grand Final
• 2004 AFL season

References