2004 Rugby League Tri-Nations

The second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament (known as the Gillette Tri-Nations due to sponsorship ) was contested between 16 October and 27 November of 2004. The format of the competition differed from the previous event in that the teams played each other twice, rather than once, prior to the final.

The tournament final of the tournament was predicted by some to be a close affair, with the British team heralded as slight favourites after finishing at the top of the league table. Instead, it was a one-sided match as Australia produced their best performance of the tournament. The game was effectively over by half-time when Australia led by 38–0.

Participating teams
Each team was to play the other three twice during the round robin tournament. The top two finishing teams would then contest the final.

Officials
One referee from each participating nation was appointed to control matches in the Tri-Nations:
 * 🇦🇺 Tim Mander (2 matches)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell Smith (3 matches)
 * 🇳🇿 Glen Black (2 matches)

Venues
The games were played at the following venues in New Zealand and England.

Final
The tournament final was played in Leeds.

Tournament matches
NEW ZEALAND

1. Brent Webb · 2. Francis Meli · 3. Nigel Vagana · 4. Paul Whatuira · 5. Matt Utai · 6. Vinnie Anderson · 7. Thomas Leuluai · 8. Jason Cayless · 9. Louis Anderson · 10. Ruben Wiki (c) · 11. Tony Puletua · 12. Joe Galuvao · 13. Sonny Bill Williams Interchange: 14. Motu Tony · 15. Roy Asotasi · 16. Nathan Cayless · 17. David Kidwell

Coach: Daniel Anderson

AUSTRALIA

1. Anthony Minichiello · 2. Luke Rooney · 3. Shaun Berrigan · 4. Willie Tonga · 5. Matt Sing · 6. Darren Lockyer (c) · 7. Craig Gower · 8. Shane Webcke · 9. Danny Buderus · 10. Jason Ryles · 11. Willie Mason · 12. Nathan Hindmarsh · 13. Tonie Carroll Interchange: 14. Craig Wing · 15. Petero Civoniceva · 16. Ben Kennedy · 17. Andrew Ryan

Coach: Wayne Bennett

AUSTRALIA

1. Anthony Minichiello · 2. Luke Rooney · 3. Shaun Berrigan · 4. Willie Tonga · 5. Matt Sing · 6. Darren Lockyer (c) · 7. Craig Gower · 8. Shane Webcke · 9. Danny Buderus · 10. Jason Ryles · 11. Craig Fitzgibbon · 12. Nathan Hindmarsh · 13. Tonie Carroll Interchange: 14. Craig Wing · 15. Petero Civoniceva · 16. Willie Mason · 17. Shaun Timmins

Coach: Wayne Bennett

NEW ZEALAND

1. Brent Webb · 2. Francis Meli · 3. Nigel Vagana · 4. Paul Whatuira · 5. Lesley Vainikolo · 6. Vinnie Anderson · 7. Thomas Leuluai · 8. Jason Cayless · 9. Louis Anderson · 10. Nathan Cayless · 11. Logan Swann · 12. Ruben Wiki (c) · 13. Sonny Bill Williams Interchange: 14. Robbie Paul · 15. Roy Asotasi · 16. Paul Rauhihi · 17. David Kidwell

Coach: Daniel Anderson

AUSTRALIA

1. Anthony Minichiello · 2. Luke Rooney · 3. Shaun Berrigan · 4. Willie Tonga · 5. Matt Sing · 6. Craig Gower · 7. Brett Kimmorley · 8. Shane Webcke · 9. Danny Buderus (c) · 10. Jason Ryles · 11. Andrew Ryan · 12. Nathan Hindmarsh · 13. Tonie Carroll Interchange: 14. Craig Wing · 15. Petero Civoniceva · 16. Willie Mason · 17. Shaun Timmins

Coach: Wayne Bennett

GREAT BRITAIN

1. Paul Wellens · 2. Brian Carney · 3. Martin Gleeson · 4. Keith Senior · 5. Stuart Reardon · 6. Paul Sculthorpe · 7. Sean Long · 8. Stuart Fielden · 9. Terry Newton · 10. Adrian Morley · 11. Jamie Peacock · 12. Andy Farrell (c) · 13. Gareth Ellis Interchange: 14. Chev Walker · 15. Stephen Wild · 16. Ryan Bailey · 17. Danny McGuire

Coach: Brian Noble

GREAT BRITAIN

1. Paul Wellens · 2. Brian Carney · 3. Martin Gleeson · 4. Keith Senior · 5. Stuart Reardon · 6. Danny McGuire · 7. Sean Long · 8. Stuart Fielden · 9. Terry Newton · 10. Adrian Morley · 11. Jamie Peacock · 12. Andy Farrell (c) · 13. Paul Sculthorpe Interchange: 14. Gareth Ellis · 15. Ryan Bailey · 16. Paul Johnson · 17. Iestyn Harris

Coach: Brian Noble

NEW ZEALAND

1. Brent Webb · 2. Francis Meli · 3. Nigel Vagana · 4. Clinton Toopi · 5. Shontayne Hape · 6. Vinnie Anderson · 7. Thomas Leuluai · 8. Jason Cayless · 9. Louis Anderson · 10. Ruben Wiki (c) · 11. Logan Swann · 12. David Kidwell · 13. Sonny Bill Williams Interchange: 14. Robbie Paul · 15. Nathan Cayless · 16. Paul Rauhihi · 17. Ali Lauiti'iti

Coach: Daniel Anderson

GREAT BRITAIN

1. Paul Wellens · 2. Brian Carney · 3. Martin Gleeson · 4. Keith Senior · 5. Stuart Reardon · 6. Danny McGuire · 7. Sean Long · 8. Stuart Fielden · 9. Terry Newton · 10. Adrian Morley · 11. Jamie Peacock · 12. Andy Farrell (c) · 13. Paul Sculthorpe Interchange: 14. Gareth Ellis · 15. Ryan Bailey · 16. Paul Johnson · 17. Iestyn Harris

Coach: Brian Noble

AUSTRALIA

1. Anthony Minichiello · 2. Matt Sing · 3. Shaun Berrigan · 4. Willie Tonga · 5. Luke Rooney · 6. Scott Hill · 7. Brett Kimmorley · 8. Shane Webcke · 9. Danny Buderus (c) · 10. Petero Civoniceva · 11. Craig Fitzgibbon · 12. Nathan Hindmarsh · 13. Tonie Carroll Interchange: 14. Craig Wing · 15. Andrew Ryan · 16. Willie Mason · 17. Mark O'Meley

Coach: Wayne Bennett

GREAT BRITAIN

1. Paul Wellens · 2. Brian Carney · 3. Martin Gleeson · 4. Keith Senior · 5. Stuart Reardon · 6. Iestyn Harris · 7. Danny McGuire · 8. Stuart Fielden · 9. Matt Diskin · 10. Adrian Morley · 11. Gareth Ellis · 12. Andy Farrell (c) · 13. Sean O'Loughlin Interchange: 14. Mickey Higham · 15. Chev Walker · 16. Paul Johnson · 17. Danny Ward

Coach: Brian Noble

NEW ZEALAND

1. Brent Webb · 2. Francis Meli · 3. Nigel Vagana · 4. Clinton Toopi · 5. Shontayne Hape · 6. Vinnie Anderson · 7. Thomas Leuluai · 8. Jason Cayless · 13. Louis Anderson · 10. Paul Rauhihi (c) · 11. Logan Swann · 12. Ali Lauiti'iti · 17. Wairangi Koopu Interchange: 9. Dene Halatau · 15. Roy Asotasi · 16. Nathan Cayless · 19. Alex Chan

Coach: Daniel Anderson

Non-series Tests
During the series, Australia and New Zealand both played an additional test match against France.

Additional Matches
A one-off match was also played between an ANZAC side made up of touring Australian and New Zealand players and a Cumbria side.

On their way back to Australia just four days after the Tri-Nations Final, the Kangaroos played a match, known as the Liberty Bell Cup against the USA at the Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Played in quarters instead of halves, and on a synthetic field that was the size of a Grid iron field, the American's shocked the Australians by racing to an 18–0 lead nearing half time and actually went into the long break with a 24–6 lead. They managed to keep their lead until late in the game when the fitness of the Australians, who had bombed numerous try scoring opportunities through the game, told and the Kangaroos overhauled the home team to win 36–24.