Canterbury-Bankstown 30–14 Penrith Panthers — Preliminary Final, 2004 NRL Finals Series
25 Sep 2004 · Sydney Football Stadium, Moore Park, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 37,868
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 2004 NRL finals series: Canterbury-Bankstown 30–14 Penrith Panthers, at Sydney Football Stadium, Moore Park, Sydney, NSW on 25 Sep 2004.
Sourcing caveat: Braith Anasta's and Reni Maitua's tries are inferred from the source's table structure and the score arithmetic (El Masri's 3 confirmed tries plus his 5/8 goals leaves 8 points unaccounted for, matching two further unconverted tries) rather than independently confirmed by a second source explicitly naming them as scorers — reported as likely rather than certain. No try-scoring minutes were found for this fixture.
Scorers
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Tries: El Masri; El Masri; El Masri; Anasta; Maitua Goals: El Masri (5/8 conversions) |
| Penrith Panthers | Tries: Campbell; Wesser Goals: Girdler (3/3 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Penrith Panthers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luke Patten | Fullback | Rhys Wesser | 1 |
| 2 | Hazem El Masri | Wing | Amos Roberts | 2 |
| 3 | Ben Harris | Centre | Ryan Girdler | 3 |
| 4 | Willie Tonga | Centre | Paul Whatuira | 4 |
| 5 | Matt Utai | Wing | Luke Rooney | 5 |
| 6 | Braith Anasta | Five-Eighth | Preston Campbell | 6 |
| 7 | Brent Sherwin | Halfback | Craig Gower (c) | 7 |
| 8 | Mark O'Meley | Prop | Joel Clinton | 8 |
| 9 | Adam Perry | Hooker | Luke Priddis | 9 |
| 10 | Steve Price (c) | Prop | Martin Lang | 10 |
| 11 | Willie Mason | Second Row | Joe Galuvao | 11 |
| 12 | Andrew Ryan | Second Row | Tony Puletua | 12 |
| 13 | Tony Grimaldi | Lock | Trent Waterhouse | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Reni Maitua | Garret Crossman | 14 | |
| 15 | Corey Hughes | Shane Rodney | 15 | |
| 16 | Roy Asotasi | Danny Galea | 16 | |
| 17 | Sonny Bill Williams | Richard Fa'aoso | 17 | |
| Steve Folkes | Coach | John Lang | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tim Mander |
Match report
Penrith led 8-4 at halftime but the Bulldogs took over in the second half to win and book a return to the Grand Final. Hazem El Masri was the standout, scoring a hat-trick of tries in addition to his goal-kicking, in a performance the club later called one of his greatest days. Bulldogs captain and prop Steve Price suffered a serious injury in just the first two minutes and did not return, forcing a reshuffle of the forward pack that persisted into the Grand Final.