The2004 AFL season was the 108th season of theAustralian Football League (AFL), the highest level seniorAustralian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 26 March until 25 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by afinals series featuring the top eight clubs.

The premiership was won by thePort Adelaide Football Club for the first time, after it defeated theBrisbane Lions by 40 points in the2004 AFL Grand Final.

See2004 AFL Draft.

The Wizard Home Loans Cup final sawSt Kilda defeatGeelong 1.14.5 (98) to 1.10.7 (76) in front of a crowd of 50,533.

Total match attendance for all games was 5,915,407. Attendance at the grand final was 77,671. The largest non-finals attendance was 60,898 people for theCollingwood vCarlton game in round 22.

Attendances during the season were affected by the ongoing reconstruction of the Ponsford, Olympic andMelbourne Cricket Club stands at theMCG to be ready for the2006 Commonwealth Games.

• TheBrownlow Medal was awarded toChris Judd ofWest Coast.
• TheLeigh Matthews Trophy was awarded toNick Riewoldt ofSt Kilda.
• TheColeman Medal was awarded toFraser Gehrig ofSt Kilda.
• TheNorm Smith Medal was awarded toByron Pickett ofPort Adelaide.
• TheAFL Rising Star award was awarded toJared Rivers ofMelbourne.
• TheWooden Spoon was "awarded" toRichmond for coming last.

• St Kilda won its first ten matches of the season, which was at that time the longest winning streak in its history. This record stood until 2009, when the Saints won 19 games in a row.
• A five-minute brawl broke out between rivalsHawthorn andEssendon in the round 11 match, after which one Bomber (Justin Murphy) and four Hawks players received suspensions totalling 16 matches, and a combined total of $70,700 of fines were handed out. 27 charges were brought before theAFL Tribunal, the most ever from a single game.^[1] The game is widely known as the "Line in the Sand" match, as the brawls were sparked in the third quarter after Hawthorn players were urged at a half-time address by club legendDermott Brereton to metaphorically draw such a line; Brereton thought the young Hawks were being physically intimidated by the more experienced Bombers.^[2]
• In round 13,Geelong defeated theBrisbane Lions for the first time since the merged club was established in 1997. The win broke a 10-game winning streak for Brisbane against Geelong.
• After the round 13 win over theWestern Bulldogs,Adelaide coachGary Ayres was told by the board of directors that his contract would not be renewed for the next season, but would be allowed to coach the rest of 2004. Ayres subsequently resigned on the same day, without shaking hands or a word with the media. He was replaced byNeil Craig at first on a temporary basis, but then got the job permanently for2005 and onwards.^[4]
• During the round 19 match betweenSydney and theKangaroos, Sydney head trainer Wally Jackson suffered a fatal heart attack during the last quarter.^[5] Most of the Sydney players were upset and distracted as Jackson was givenCPR on the interchange bench; and despite Sydney having led the Kangaroos by 40 points at three-quarter time, they faded to lose by six points.
• With its round 22 win over Adelaide,Port Adelaide clinched its third consecutive minor premiership, a feat achieved by only two other clubs in the previous 50 seasons (Melbourne 1955–60;Essendon 1999–2001). This would later prove crucial in relation to home ground advantage at the preliminary final stage.
• Despite earning a home preliminary final by beating St Kilda two weeks earlier, the Brisbane Lions were forced to play Geelong in Melbourne at the MCG, due to an agreement between the AFL and the MCG to play at least one match per week at the ground in finals. This contractual stipulation was removed following renegotiation the following season.^[6]
• Essendon’s victory over Melbourne in the first week of the finals remains, as of the end of 2024, its most recent finals victory.

• 2004 Season – AFL Tables

• 2004 Australian Football League season
• Australian Football League seasons
• 2004 in Australian rules football

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