2004 VFL season

The 2004 Victorian Football League season was the 123rd season of the Australian rules football competition.

2004 VFL season
Teams	13
Premiers	Sandringham 8th premiership
Minor premiers	Port Melbourne 17th minor premiership
← 2003 2005 →

The premiership was won by the Sandringham Football Club, after defeating Port Melbourne by four points in the Grand Final on 19 September.

Premiership season

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers


Qualifying and elimination finals			Semi-finals		Preliminary finals		Grand final



August 29, North Port Oval

1	Port Melbourne	17.20 (122)

4	North Ballarat	8.12 (60)	September 4, Bellerive Oval

			North Ballarat	13.6 (84)

August 28, York Park			Tasmania	15.9 (99)	September 11, North Port Oval

5	Tasmania	16.10 (106)			Port Melbourne	11.15 (81)

8	Bendigo	13.9 (87)			Box Hill	8.5 (53)	September 19, Optus Oval

							Port Melbourne	9.9 (63)

August 28, North Port Oval					September 12, North Port Oval		Sandringham	9.13 (67)

6	Coburg	8.11 (59)			Sandringham	12.10 (82)

7	Box Hill	9.14 (68)	September 5, North Port Oval		Tasmania	6.8 (44)

			Werribee	11.15 (81)

August 28, North Port Oval			Box Hill	13.11 (89)

2	Sandringham	11.17 (83)

3	Werribee	7.10 (52)


	2004 VFL Grand Final
Sunday 19 September (2:10 pm)	Port Melbourne	def. by	Sandringham	Optus Oval (crowd: 8,196)	^[1]
	4.3 (27) 6.5 (41) 7.7 (49) 9.9 (63)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	3.3 (21) 7.7 (49) 9.11 (65) 9.13 (67)	Umpires: Donlon, Kamolins, Sully Norm Goss Memorial Medal: Guy Rigoni (Sandringham)


J. Clayton 2, Grima 2, Pitt 2, Aloi, Baird, Harding		Goals	Sautner 4, Williams 2, Crowe, Gallagher, Sylvia




Sandringham led by 17 points at the 26-minute mark of the final quarter. Two quick goals to Port Melbourne closed the margin to five points, and a final shot from fifty metres out with only a few seconds remaining was on target but fell just short and was rushed for a behind.

The Jim 'Frosty' Miller Medal was won for the sixth consecutive year by Nick Sautner (Sandringham), who kicked 60 goals.^[2]
The J. J. Liston Trophy was won by Julian Field (North Ballarat), who polled 16 votes. Field finished ahead of Adam Fisher (Sandringham), who was second with 13 votes, and Jeremy Clayton (Port Melbourne), Daniel Harford (Northern Bullants) and Trent Bartlett (Tasmania), who were equal-third with 11 votes.^[3]
The Fothergill–Round Medal was won by Adam Fisher (Sandringham).^[4]
Port Melbourne won the reserves premiership. Port Melbourne 19.13 (127) defeated Williamstown 8.15 (63) in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the Seniors Grand Final on 19 September.^[5]

Early in the preseason, Carlton announced its intention to terminate its affiliation with the Northern Bullants after one season, intending to resume fielding its own reserves team in the VFL.^[6] However, after a couple of months of uncertainty, the clubs revived their affiliation, with Carlton assuming greater control over the Bullants' operation and installing a Carlton assistant coach, Barry Mitchell, as Bullants senior coach.^[7]

^ Rebecca Williams (20 September 2004). "Zebras earn stripes". Herald Sun. Melbourne, VIC. p. 59.
^ "Frosty Miller Medallists". Fox Sports Pulse. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
^ "2004 Medallists across Australia". Footystats Diary. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
^ "Fothergill-Round Medallists". Sportingpulse. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
^ "Sports details". Herald Sun. Melbourne, VIC. 20 September 2004. p. 67.
^ Caroline Wilson (29 August 2003). "Blues in trouble for stomping on Bullants". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
^ . Footystats. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.