2004 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

The 2004 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was the 6th in the joint-venture club's history, and they competed in the 2004 NRL season. Coached by Nathan Brown and captained by Trent Barrett, they finished the 2004 Telstra Premiership 5th (out of 15 teams) at the end of the regular season. The Dragons then reached the first week of the finals when they were knocked out by the Penrith Panthers. This was the result of some major upsets which involved two of the top three ranked teams (Bulldogs and Brisbane Broncos) also losing in the first week of the finals.

St. George Illawarra Dragons

2004 season
CEO	Peter Doust
Head coach	Nathan Brown
Captain	Trent Barrett
NRL	5th, Qualifying Final
Top try scorer	Club: Matt Cooper (17)
Top points scorer	Club: Mathew Head (119)
Highest home attendance	18, 932 (vs. Penrith in Round 6, 18 April 2004)
Lowest home attendance	9, 362 (vs. Newcastle in Round 4, 4 April 2004))
Average home attendance	14, 347
← 2003 2005 →

Draw and Results

14 March 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	12-21	Canberra Raiders	Kogarah, New South Wales
14:30	Dean Young  43' Reece Simmonds  55' Goals: Mark Riddell 1/2 Brett Firman 1/1			Stadium: OKI Jubilee Oval Player of the Match: Mark McLinden

20 March 2004	New Zealand Warriors	10-16	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Auckland, New Zealand
17:30			Matt Cooper  35' Mathew Head  40' Reece Simmonds  53' Goals: Mark Riddell 2/3 Mathew Head 0/1	Stadium: Ericsson Stadium Player of the Match: Matt Cooper

28 March 2004	Melbourne Storm	34-6	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Melbourne, Victoria
15:00			Matt Cooper  13' Goals: Mark Riddell 1/2	Stadium: Olympic Park Player of the Match: Steve Turner

4 April 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	48-2	Newcastle Knights	Wollongong, New South Wales
15:00	Reece Simmonds  40, 68' Mark Riddell  58, 64' Shaun Timmins  3' Mark Gasnier  15' Nathan Blacklock  23' Lance Thompson  72' Trent Barrett  75' Goals: Mark Riddell 4/6 Mathew Head 2/3			Stadium: WIN Stadium Player of the Match: Mark Riddell

11 April 2004	Wests Tigers	10-39	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Sydney, New South Wales
14:30			Ben Hornby  22, 54' Matt Cooper  33, 64' Mark Gasnier  38' Shaun Timmins  45' Ashton Sims  67' Goals: Mathew Head 3/5 Mark Riddell 2/3 Field Goal: Trent Barrett 57'	Stadium: Telstra Stadium Player of the Match: Matt Cooper

18 April 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	44-18	Penrith Panthers	Wollongong, New South Wales
14:30	Matt Cooper  23, 25, 55, 70' Trent Barrett  2' Mathew Head  53' Nathan Blacklock  59' Mark Riddell  63' Goals: Mathew Head 5/6 Mark Riddell 1/2			Stadium: WIN Stadium Player of the Match: Matt Cooper

25 April 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	8-11	Sydney Roosters	Sydney, New South Wales
15:00	Reece Simmonds  44' Goals: Mathew Head 2/2			Stadium: Aussie Stadium Player of the Match: Brad Fittler

1 May 2004	Cronulla Sharks	12-42	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Cronulla, New South Wales
19:30			Ben Hornby  19, 61, 66' Mark Gasnier  4, 75' Tony Jensen  7' Nathan Blacklock  43' Goals: Mark Riddell 6/6 Mathew Head 1/1	Stadium: Toyota Park Player of the Match: Ben Hornby

9 May 2004	Manly Sea Eagles	21-10	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Manly, New South Wales
15:00			Brent Kite  60' Reece Simmonds  66' Goals: Mark Riddell 1/2	Stadium: Brookvale Oval Player of the Match: John Hopoate

15 May 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	12-38	Canterbury Bulldogs	Wollongong, New South Wales
17:30	Justin Poore  73' Ben Hornby  79' Goals: Mark Riddell 1/2			Stadium: WIN Stadium

21 May 2004	Parramatta Eels	6-37	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Parramatta, New South Wales
19:30			Daniel Holdsworth  65, 76' Reece Simmonds  5' Mathew Head  55' David Howell  63' Mark Riddell  71' Goals: Mark Riddell 5/6 Mathew Head 1/1 Field Goal: Mathew Head 69'	Stadium: Parramatta Stadium Player of the Match: Mathew Head

28 May 2004	Brisbane Broncos	24-22	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Brisbane, Queensland
19:30			Mark Gasnier  3, 80' Ben Hornby  16' Shaun Timmins  36' Goals: Mark Riddell 2/3 Mathew Head 1/1	Stadium: Suncorp Stadium Player of the Match: Casey McGuire

5 June 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	12-14	North Queensland Cowboys	Wollongong, New South Wales
19:30	Matt Cooper  27' David Howell  65' Ben Creagh  76' Goals: Mathew Head 0/3			Stadium: WIN Stadium

11 June 2004	Penrith Panthers	8-28	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Penrith, New South Wales
19:30			David Howell  3' Lincoln Withers  36' Reece Simmonds  43' Matt Cooper  53' Michael Henderson  76' Goals: Mathew Head 4/4 Mark Riddell 0/1	Stadium: Penrith Stadium Player of the Match: Trent Barrett

20 June 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	50-0	Wests Tigers	Kogarah, New South Wales
15:00	Mark Gasnier  11, 26, 44, 56' Matt Cooper  21' Ashton Sims  30' Ben Creagh  39' Dean Young  65' Mark Riddell  80' Goals: Mathew Head 7/9			Stadium: OKI Jubilee Oval Player of the Match: Mark Gasnier

27 June 2004	South Sydney Rabbitohs	12-52	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Sydney, New South Wales
15:00			Ben Hornby  21, 25' Reece Simmonds  16, 49' Matt Cooper  71, 77' Mark Gasnier  4' Lance Thompson  6' Brent Kite  19' Ben Creagh  59' Goals: Mathew Head 5/9 Mark Riddell 1/1	Stadium: Aussie Stadium Player of the Match: Mark Gasnier

	BYE	v	St. George Illawarra Dragons

9 July 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	14-28	Brisbane Broncos	Wollongong, New South Wales
19:30	Shaun Timmins  13' Lincoln Withers  70' Andrew Frew  79' Goals: Mathew Head 1/3			Stadium: WIN Stadium Player of the Match: Neville Costigan

16 July 2004	Sydney Roosters	18-14	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Sydney, New South Wales
19:30	Ryan Cross 26' to 36'		Clint Greenshields 53' to 63' Nathan Blacklock  18' John Carlaw  27' Goals: Mathew Head 3/3	Stadium: Aussie Stadium

25 July 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	26-14	Cronulla Sharks	Kogarah, New South Wales
15:00	Reece Simmonds  9, 75' Trent Barrett  18' Lincoln Withers  45' Mark Riddell  73' Goals: Mathew Head 3/5			Stadium: OKI Jubilee Oval Player of the Match: Trent Barrett

31 July 2004	North Queensland Cowboys	34-10	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Townsville, Queensland
19:30			Ben Creagh  40' Nick Youngquest  60' Goals: Mark Riddell 1/1 Mathew Head 0/1	Stadium: Dairy Farmers Stadium Player of the Match: Matt Bowen

6 August 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	34-10	Melbourne Storm	Wollongong, New South Wales
19:30	Matt Cooper  3, 62' Trent Barrett  37' John Carlaw  46' Reece Simmonds  59' Lincoln Withers  69' Goals: Mark Riddell 3/4 Mathew Head 2/2			Stadium: WIN Stadium Player of the Match: Jason Ryles

14 August 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	28-10	New Zealand Warriors	Wollongong, New South Wales
19:30	John Carlaw  10' Mark Riddell  13' Reece Simmonds  36' Ben Hornby  39' Nick Youngquest  50' Ashton Sims  73' Goals: Mark Riddell 1/3 Mathew Head 1/3			Stadium: WIN Stadium Player of the Match: Mathew Head

20 August 2004	Newcastle Knights	22-24	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Newcastle, New South Wales
19:30			Nick Youngquest  8, 60' Mathew Head  53, 56' Matt Cooper  73' Goals: Mathew Head 2/4 Mark Riddell 0/1	Stadium: EnergyAustralia Stadium Player of the Match: Mathew Head

29 August 2004	St. George Illawarra Dragons	36-34	Manly Sea Eagles	Kogarah, New South Wales
14:30	Nathan Blacklock  57, 62' Shaun Timmins  33' Lincoln Withers  47' Ben Hornby  64' Matt Cooper  67' Justin Poore  77' Goals: Mark Riddell 3/5 Mathew Head 1/2			Stadium: OKI Jubilee Oval

	St. George Illawarra Dragons	v	BYE

10 September 2004	Penrith Panthers	31-30	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Penrith, New South Wales
20:00	Preston Campbell Trent Waterhouse Luke Priddis Goals: Ryan Girdler 5/5 Field Goals: Craig Gower		Nathan Blacklock  33' Ben Hornby  37' Shaun Timmins  53' Lance Thompson  66' Dean Young  77' Goals: Mathew Head 5/5	Stadium: Penrith Stadium Attendance: 21,963 Referee: Sean Hampstead Player of the Match: Trent Waterhouse

Ladder

2004 NRL season
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

Transfers

Gains:
Losses:

Squad

No. Position Player Luke Bailey – PR Trent Barrett – FE (captain) Nathan Blacklock – WG John Carlaw – CE Matt Cooper – CE Ben Creagh – SR Brett Firman – HB Andrew Frew – WG Mark Gasnier – CE Clint Greenshields – FB Mathew Head – HB Michael Henderson – PR Daniel Holdsworth – FE Ben Hornby – HB David Howell – CE Michael Howell – LK Tony Jensen – SR

No. Position Player Brent Kite – PR Nathan Long – PR Bryan Norrie – PR Henry Perenara – SR Justin Poore – PR Ryan Powell – HK Mark Riddell – HK Lachlan Russell – HB Jason Ryles – PR Reece Simmonds – WG Ashton Sims – SR Lance Thompson – SR Shaun Timmins – LK Aaron Wheatley – SR Lincoln Withers – HK Dean Young – LK Nick Youngquest – WG