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2004 Bradford Bulls season

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2004 Bradford Bulls season
Super League IX Rank2nd
Play-off resultRunners Up
Challenge Cup4th Round
2004 recordWins: 22; draws: 1; losses: 9
Points scoredFor: 984; against: 627
Team information
ChairmanChris Caisley
Head CoachBrian Noble
Captain
StadiumOdsal Stadium
Avg. attendance11,459
High attendance23,375 vs. Leeds Rhinos
Top scorers
TriesLesley Vainikolo (39)
GoalsPaul Deacon (124)
PointsPaul Deacon (282)
← 2003 List of seasons 2005 →

This article details the Bradford Bulls rugby league football club's 2004 season, the ninth season of the Super League era.

Season review

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February 2004

Bradford started the 2004 season off by beating Penrith Panthers 22–4 in the World Club Challenge to become World Champions for the second time. The Bulls start to the regular season rounds could not have been better as Lesley Vainikolo set a Super League record with the most tries in a match scoring five in Bradford's 34–6 win against Wigan Warriors. The Bulls could not retain their Challenge Cup title as they were knocked out in Round 4 as St Helens R.F.C. beat them 30–10.

March 2004

Bradford continued their run of form with a comprehensive 40–6 win against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. The Bulls kept their league winning streak going with a hard fought 20–6 win against Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Giants.

April 2004

The Bulls started April by grinding out a 25–18 win against Salford City Reds. Bradford's first league loss of the season came in Round 5 against arch rivals Leeds Rhinos who came out 26–18 winners. The Bulls picked themselves up after this defeat and hammered St Helens R.F.C. 54–8 with Shontayne Hape scoring a hat-trick. Bradford lost for the second time this season as Hull F.C. beat them 26–18 with Shaun Briscoe scoring four tries for the Hull side. The Bulls finished the month with a 22–22 draw at Warrington Wolves.

May 2004

Bradford started May with a much needed 24–12 win against London Broncos. The Bulls then beat Castleford Tigers 44–18 with Stuart Reardon scoring four tries. Bradford kept their winning run on track with a 30–20 win against Widnes Vikings. The month finished badly for the Bulls as their winning streak was broken in a 35–30 loss to St Helens R.F.C.

June 2004

The start of June was a poor one for Bradford as they lost 26–12 to arch-rivals Leeds Rhinos. Bradford soon got back on track as they beat Salford City Reds 35–28 in a hard fought match. The Bulls also posted an impressive 40–12 win against Huddersfield Giants with Paul Deacon kicking them to victory with 10 goals. Bradford finished the month with a 38–30 win against Widnes Vikings.

July 2004

The Bulls started July well as they smashed Castleford Tigers 60–12 with Lesley Vainikolo stealing the spotlight with four tries, he then scored another two the following week in a 36–26 win against the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. The good start to the month came to an end as the Bulls lost 32–16 to Wigan Warriors. Bradford recovered from this defeat and beat London Broncos 44–16.

August 2004

Bradford's month got off to a bad start as they lost 25–14 to Hull F.C. keeping the Bulls fifth in the table. The Bulls got their season back on track with a hard fought 36–22 win against Warrington Wolves thanks to a Lesley Vainikolo hat-trick. Bradford backed this win up with an outstanding 38–12 win against Wigan Warriors with Iestyn Harris leading the way with two tries and a goal. The Bulls were brought crashing back to earth as league leaders and arch-rivals Leeds Rhinos beat them 40–12, the Bulls were down to 12 men for at least 20 minutes of the match as Leon Pryce received two sin-bins. Bradford finished the month strong as they beat Hull F.C. 26–12, Lesley Vainikolo scored his fourth hat-trick of the year to help the Bulls get the much needed win.

September 2004

The Bulls continued their charge to second in the league as they beat woeful London Broncos 60–18, Shontayne Hape scored a hat-trick, Logan Swann and Rob Parker also scored two tries each to help the Bulls get the win. Bradford continued their winning end to the season with a nail biting 28–27 win against Warrington Wolves where Paul Deacon's two late drop-goals secured the points for the Yorkshire side. The Bulls finished the regular season by thumping St Helens R.F.C. 64–24, both Stuart Reardon and Lesley Vainikolo grabbed hat-tricks whilst Hape scored two tries to help the Bradford team finish the 2004 season second in the league.

October 2004

Bradford qualified for the 2004 Grand Final by defeating arch rivals Leeds Rhinos in the Qualifying Semi-final. The Bulls came out as 26–12 winner thanks to tries from Robbie Paul, Lee Radford, Lesley Vainikolo and a double from Shontayne Hape. However Leeds soon got revenge as they defeated the Bulls 16–8 in the Grand Final.

2004 milestones

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  • WCC: Logan Swann scored his 1st try for the Bulls.
  • Round 1: Aaron Smith scored his 1st try for the Bulls.
  • Round 1: Lesley Vainikolo scored his 1st five-try haul, 1st four-try haul and 3rd hat-trick for the Bulls.
  • Round 2: Chris Bridge and Paul Johnson scored their 1st tries for the Bulls.
  • Round 2: Tevita Vaikona scored his 100th try and reached 400 points for the Bulls.
  • Round 6: Shontayne Hape scored his 1st hat-trick for the Bulls.
  • Round 6: Michael Withers reached 400 points for the Bulls.
  • Round 7: Lesley Vainikolo scored his 50th try and reached 200 points for the Bulls.
  • Round 10: Stuart Reardon scored his 1st four-try haul and 1st hat-trick for the Bulls.
  • Round 10: Paul Deacon reached 1,100 points for the Bulls.
  • Round 11: Leon Pryce scored his 75th try and reached 300 points for the Bulls.
  • Round 12: Karl Pratt scored his 1st hat-trick for the Bulls.
  • Round 14: Chris Bridge kicked his 1st goal for the Bulls.
  • Round 15: Shontayne Hape scored his 25th try and reached 100 points for the Bulls.
  • Round 16: Andy Smith scored his 1st try for the Bulls.
  • Round 17: Lesley Vainikolo scored his 2nd four-try haul and 4th hat-trick for the Bulls.
  • Round 19: Paul Deacon kicked his 500th goal and reached 1,200 points for the Bulls.
  • Round 20: Iestyn Harris kicked his 1st goal for the Bulls.
  • Round 22: Lesley Vainikolo scored his 5th hat-trick for the Bulls.
  • Round 23: Iestyn Harris scored his 1st try for the Bulls.
  • Round 25: Lesley Vainikolo scored his 6th hat-trick for the Bulls.
  • Round 26: Shontayne Hape scored his 2nd hat-trick for the Bulls.
  • Round 28: Stuart Reardon scored his 2nd hat-trick for the Bulls.
  • Round 28: Lesley Vainikolo scored his 7th hat-trick for the Bulls.
  • Qualifying Semi-final: Lesley Vainikolo scored his 75th try and reached 300 points for the Bulls.
  • Qualifying Semi-final: Paul Deacon reached 1,300 points for the Bulls.

Table

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Super League IX
Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qual.
1 Leeds Rhinos 28 24 2 2 1037 443 +594 50 Play-off semi-final
2 Bradford Bulls 28 20 1 7 918 565 +353 41
3 Hull 28 19 2 7 843 478 +365 40 Play-off elimination final
4 Wigan Warriors 28 17 4 7 736 558 +178 38
5 St. Helens 28 17 1 10 821 662 +159 35
6 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 28 15 0 13 788 662 +126 30
7 Huddersfield Giants 28 12 0 16 518 757 −239 24
8 Warrington Wolves 28 10 1 17 700 715 −15 21
9 Salford City Reds 28 8 0 20 507 828 −321 16
10 London Broncos 28 7 1 20 561 968 −407 15
11 Widnes Vikings 28 7 0 21 466 850 −384 14
12 Castleford Tigers 28 6 0 22 515 924 −409 12 Relegated to National League 1

Source: Rugby League Project.
Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.

World Club Challenge

[edit]
LEGEND
  Win
  Draw
  Loss
Date Competition Vrs H/A Venue Result Score Tries Goals Att
13 February 2004 WCC Penrith Panthers N McAlpine Stadium W 22–4 Vainikolo, L.Pryce, Swann, Parker Withers 3/5, Radford 0/1 18,962
2004 World Club Challenge Teams
Bradford Bulls positions Penrith Panthers
6. Michael Withers Fullback 1. Rhys Wesser
2. Tevita Vaikona Winger 2. Brett Howland
16. Paul Johnson Centre 3. Luke Lewis
4. Shontayne Hape Centre 4. Paul Whatuira
5. Lesley Vainikolo Winger 5. Luke Rooney
3. Leon Pryce Stand off 6. Preston Campbell
15. Karl Pratt Scrum half 7. Craig Gower
29. Stuart Fielden Prop 8. Joel Clinton
24. Aaron Smith Hooker 9. Luke Priddis
10. Paul Anderson Prop 10. Martin Lang
11. Lee Radford 2nd Row 11. Joe Galuvao
12. Jamie Peacock 2nd Row 12. Tony Puletua
13. Logan Swann Loose forward 13. Trent Waterhouse
8. Joe Vagana Interchange 14. Ben Ross
17. Stuart Reardon Interchange 15. Colin Ward
19. Jamie Langley Interchange 16. Shane Rodney
27. Rob Parker Interchange 17. Luke Swain
Brian Noble Coach John Lang

2004 fixtures and results

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LEGEND
  Win
  Draw
  Loss

2004 Tetley's Super League

Date Competition Rnd Vrs H/A Venue Result Score Tries Goals Att
20 February 2004 Super League IX 1 Wigan Warriors H Odsal Stadium W 34–6 Vainikolo (5), Smith, Withers Withers 3/7 17,267
7 March 2004 Super League IX 2 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats A Belle Vue W 40–6 Bridge (2), Vaikona (2), Vainikolo (2), Johnson, Reardon Deacon 4/8 6,472
21 March 2004 Super League IX 3 Huddersfield Giants A McAlpine Stadium W 20–6 Johnson (2), Deacon Deacon 4/4 8,039
2 April 2004 Super League IX 4 Salford City Reds H Odsal Stadium W 25–18 Deacon, Johnson, L.Pryce, Vainikolo Deacon 4/4, Withers 1 DG 11,790
8 April 2004 Super League IX 5 Leeds Rhinos A Headingley Stadium L 18–26 Hape, Vaikona, Vainikolo Deacon 3/3 21,225
12 April 2004 Super League IX 6 St. Helens H Odsal Stadium W 54–8 Hape (3), Vaikona (2), Vainikolo (2), Withers (2), Langley, Radford Deacon 1/5, Withers 3/4, Paul 1/2 15,623
23 April 2004 Super League IX 8 Hull F.C. H Odsal Stadium L 18–26 Deacon, Hape Deacon 5/5 12,684
27 April 2004 Super League IX 7 Warrington Wolves A Halliwell Jones Stadium D 22–22 Withers (2), Smith, Vainikolo Deacon 3/4 8,111
3 May 2004 Super League IX 9 London Broncos A Griffin Park W 24–12 Reardon (2), Deacon, Langley, L.Pryce Deacon 2/5 3,987
9 May 2004 Super League IX 10 Castleford Tigers H Odsal Stadium W 44–18 Reardon (4), Langley (2), Vainikolo (2) Deacon 6/8 12,877
23 May 2004 Super League IX 11 Widnes Vikings A Halton Stadium W 30–20 L.Pryce (2), Hape, Johnson, Smith Deacon 5/5 6,615
29 May 2004 Super League IX 12 St. Helens A Knowsley Road L 30–35 Pratt (3), Anderson, Parker Deacon 5/5 10,993
5 June 2004 Super League IX 13 Leeds Rhinos H Odsal Stadium L 12–26 Reardon, Vainikolo Deacon 2/2 23,375
13 June 2004 Super League IX 14 Salford City Reds A The Willows W 35–28 Johnson (2), Vainikolo (2), Bridge, Hape Bridge 4/4, Withers 1/2, Withers 1 DG 5,003
20 June 2004 Super League IX 15 Huddersfield Giants H Odsal Stadium W 40–12 Hape (2), Fielden, Reardon, Swann Deacon 10/10 11,069
27 June 2004 Super League IX 16 Widnes Vikings H Odsal Stadium W 38–30 Paul (2), Pratt (2), Johnson, L.Pryce, Smith Deacon 3/5, Bridge 2/2 11,137
4 July 2004 Super League IX 17 Castleford Tigers A The Jungle W 60–12 Vainikolo (4), Hape (2), Deacon, Parker, Peacock, L.Pryce Deacon 10/10 6,606
11 July 2004 Super League IX 18 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats H Odsal Stadium W 36–26 Vainikolo (2), Deacon, Parker, Peacock, Reardon Deacon 6/6 12,670
16 July 2004 Super League IX 19 Wigan Warriors A JJB Stadium L 16–32 Hape, Peacock, Swann Deacon 2/3 15,102
25 July 2004 Super League IX 20 London Broncos H Odsal Stadium W 44–16 Vainikolo (2), Fielden, Langley, Paul, Reardon, Smith, Swann Deacon 4/5, Harris 2/3 10,283
1 August 2004 Super League IX 21 Hull F.C. A KC Stadium L 14–25 Hape, Paul Deacon 3/3 14,124
8 August 2004 Super League IX 22 Warrington Wolves H Odsal Stadium W 36–22 Vainikolo (3), Bridge, Hape, Reardon Deacon 6/6 12,891
13 August 2004 Super League IX 23 Wigan Warriors H Odsal Stadium W 38–12 Harris (2), Hape, Langley, Paul, L.Pryce, Vainikolo Deacon 4/5, Harris 1/2 12,610
20 August 2004 Super League IX 24 Leeds Rhinos A Headingley Stadium L 12–40 Harris, Swann Deacon 2/2 21,225
30 August 2004 Super League IX 25 Hull F.C. A KC Stadium W 26–12 Vainikolo (3), Harris, Langley Deacon 3/5 13,593
5 September 2004 Super League IX 26 London Broncos H Odsal Stadium W 60–18 Hape (3), Parker (2), Swann (2), Fielden, Vagana, Withers Deacon 10/10 11,319
12 September 2004 Super League IX 27 Warrington Wolves A Halliwell Jones Stadium W 28–27 Harris (2), Hape, Langley, Vainikolo Deacon 3/5, Deacon 2 DG 10,008
19 September 2004 Super League IX 28 St. Helens H Odsal Stadium W 64–24 Reardon (3), Vainikolo (3), Hape (2), Deacon, Peacock, Withers Deacon 10/11 13,127

Challenge Cup

[edit]
LEGEND
  Win
  Draw
  Loss
Date Competition Rnd Vrs H/A Venue Result Score Tries Goals Att
29 February 2004 Cup 4th St. Helens H Odsal Stadium L 10–30 Deacon, Radford Deacon 1/2 12,215

Playoffs

[edit]
LEGEND
  Win
  Draw
  Loss
Date Competition Rnd Vrs H/A Venue Result Score Tries Goals Att
2 October 2004 Play-offs QSF Leeds Rhinos A Headingley Stadium W 26–12 Hape (2), Paul, Radford, Vainikolo Deacon 3/5 21,225
16 October 2004 Play-offs GF Leeds Rhinos N Old Trafford L 8–16 Hape, Vainikolo Deacon 0/2 65,537

2004 squad statistics

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Further information: Bradford Bulls
  • Appearances and Points include (Super League, Challenge Cup and Play-offs) as of 2012.
No Player Position Tries Goals DG Points
1 Robbie Paul Fullback 6 1 0 26
2 Tevita Vaikona Wing 5 0 0 20
3 Leon Pryce Centre 8 0 0 32
4 Shontayne Hape Centre 24 0 0 96
5 Lesley Vainikolo Wing 39 0 0 156
6 Michael Withers Fullback 7 10 2 50
7 Paul Deacon Scrum-half 8 124 2 282
8 Joe Vagana Prop 1 0 0 4
10 Paul Anderson Prop 1 0 0 4
11 Lee Radford Second row 3 0 0 12
12 Jamie Peacock Second row 4 0 0 16
13 Logan Swann Loose forward 7 0 0 28
14 Toa Kohe-Love Centre 0 0 0 0
15 Karl Pratt Stand off 5 0 0 20
16 Paul Johnson Centre 8 0 0 32
17 Stuart Reardon Fullback 15 0 0 60
18 Iestyn Harris Stand off 6 3 0 30
19 Jamie Langley Loose forward 8 0 0 32
20 Matt Cook Prop 0 0 0 0
22 Karl Pryce Wing 0 0 0 0
23 Vinny Myler Prop 0 0 0 0
24 Aaron Smith Hooker 3 0 0 12
25 Brett Ferres Second row 0 0 0 0
26 Chris Bridge Centre 4 6 0 28
27 Rob Parker Prop 6 0 0 24
28 Nicky Saxton Fullback 0 0 0 0
29 Stuart Fielden Prop 3 0 0 12
30 Richard Moore Wing 0 0 0 0
31 Richard Colley Scrum-half 0 0 0 0
32 Andy Smith Wing 2 0 0 8

References

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