Sydney Roosters

The Sydney Roosters finished the 2004 regular season in 1st place, taking out the minor premiership. They subsequently won their two finals matches against the Canberra Raiders 38–12 and then the North Queensland Cowboys 19–16 to make their third consecutive grand final and their fourth in five seasons.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (that season known as just the Bulldogs) finished the 2004 regular season 2nd (out of 15). They lost their first match of the finals series against the North Queensland Cowboys 22–30 but won their next two against the Melbourne Storm 43–18 and the Penrith Panthers 30–14 to reach their first grand final since 1998.

First half

After 13 minutes, Sydney took the first try of the game with Chris Walker scoring the try and Craig Fitzgibbon converting giving Sydney a 6–0 lead. Ten minutes later winger Matt Utai scored the first try for the Bulldogs bringing the score back to 6–4, after Hazem El Masri missing the conversion attempt. A few minutes later El Masri levelled the scores at 6–6 with a penalty goal. Just after the 30 minute mark, Brett Finch kicked a field goal to give Sydney a narrow 7–6 lead. Two minutes later Anthony Tupou made a 30-metre break for Sydney before passing to teammate Anthony Minichiello to cross under the posts with Fitzgibbon converting to give Sydney a 13–6 lead. At the 37th minute, Minichiello looked to have his second try, however the try was denied by the video referee and the Roosters penalised for an obstruction.

Second half

Two minutes into the second half, Utai got his second try with El Masri converting, bringing the score back to 13–12. In the 53rd minute El Masri crossed over for a try, which was awarded by the video referee despite Roosters players complaints of a double movement. El Masri would narrowly missed the conversion, but his try would give the Bulldogs the lead 16–13. With one minute left and the score remaining at 16–13, Sydney's Michael Crocker made a half break on the Bulldogs 40-meter line, but was tackled by stand in Bulldogs captain Andrew Ryan, resulting in Crocker losing the ball. The desperate tackle from Ryan ending the match to give the Bulldogs their 8th premiership.

This marked the first (and only) time in 2004 that the Roosters lost a match after leading at half-time.^[3]