Coach: Neale Daniher
Captain: David Neitz
Finishing Position: 5th
Best and Fairest: Jeff White
Leading Goalkicker: David Neitz (69)
Best First Year Player: Aaron Davey
Major Sponsor : Primus Telecommunications
Members: 20,647
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Coaching Staff | VFL |
Stung by a poor 2003 the Demons were one of the first sides to hit the pre-season training track - starting their campaign on 27 October, and they bounced back to make the finals again. Melbourne were on top of the ladder after Round 18 but failed to win another game and were knocked out by Essendon in the Elimination Final.
In May Paul Gardner announced that the club were losing $100,000 a month, and in October the league recognised Melbourne's dire financial situation by granting them a retrospective payment of $1.5 million for 2004, and the same for 2005. After the AFL's cash injection, the club made a $25,000 profit.
Midway through the season, with the club sitting near the top of the ladder and amongst the premiership favourites, Neale Daniher and fitness coach Chris Ford implemented a program where senior players increased their training load until the second week of August, before tapering off in the run up to finals. It was a concept that had helped Adelaide win premierships in 1997 and 1998, but Melbourne crashed to four losses in a row at the end of the home and away season, then lost an Elimination Final thriller to Essendon.
In December the club signed an agreement with the Melbourne and Olympic Park Trust aimed at establishing an elite training and administration base at the redeveloped venue.
Wizard Home Loans Cup
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | North Melbourne | WIN | 113-91 | ||
| QF | West Coast | WIN | 87-75 | ||
| SF | Geelong | LOSS | 76-77 | ||
Practice Matches
| Opposition | Result | ||||
| Collingwood | WON | 66-50 | |||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | |||
| 1 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 70-119 | ||
| 2 | Richmond | WIN | 135-76 | ||
| 3 | Western Bulldogs | WIN | 97-87 | ||
| 4 | Port Adelaide | WIN | 124-71 | ||
| 5 | Sydney | WIN | 111-99 | ||
| 6 | Carlton | WIN | 160-55 | ||
| 7 | West Coast | WIN | 122-73 | ||
| 8 | Geelong | LOSS | 87-101 | ||
| 9 | Kangaroos | WIN | 96-78 | ||
| 10 | Brisbane | LOSS | 83-123 | ||
| 11 | Fremantle | WIN | 93-62 | ||
| 12 | Collingwood | WIN | 82-73 | ||
| 13 | Essendon | WIN | 95-69 | ||
| 14 | Adelaide | LOSS | 73-145 | ||
| 15 | St. Kilda | WIN | 146-89 | ||
| 16 | Western Bulldogs | WIN | 93-55 | ||
| 17 | Richmond | WIN | 126-70 | ||
| 18 | Hawthorn | WIN | 107-63 | ||
| 19 | Port Adelaide | LOSS | 52-125 | ||
| 20 | Sydney | LOSS | 46-67 | ||
| 21 | Carlton | LOSS | 62-93 | ||
| 22 | West Coast | LOSS | 67-107 | ||
| EF | Essendon | LOSS | 99-104 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Port Adelaide | 17 | 0 | 5 | 132.4 | 68 |
| Brisbane | 16 | 0 | 6 | 137.2 | 64 |
| St. Kilda | 16 | 0 | 6 | 128.0 | 64 |
| Geelong | 15 | 0 | 7 | 119.9 | 60 |
| Melbourne | 14 | 0 | 8 | 111.9 | 56 |
| Sydney | 13 | 0 | 9 | 107.4 | 52 |
| West Coast | 13 | 0 | 9 | 103.8 | 52 |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 10 | 102.4 | 48 |
| Fremantle | 11 | 0 | 11 | 100.6 | 44 |
| Kangaroos | 10 | 0 | 12 | 100.3 | 40 |
| Carlton | 10 | 0 | 12 | 81.7 | 40 |
| Adelaide | 8 | 0 | 14 | 95.6 | 32 |
| Collingwood | 8 | 0 | 14 | 91.2 | 32 |
| Western Bulldogs | 5 | 0 | 17 | 79.6 | 20 |
| Hawthorn | 4 | 0 | 18 | 70.2 | 16 |
| Richmond | 4 | 0 | 18 | 69.2 | 16 |
Senior List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Chris Heffernan | 18 | 2 | ||
| 2 | Steven Armstrong | 6 | 4 | ||
| 3 | Clint Bizzell | 14 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Ben Holland | 21 | 21 | ||
| 5 | Brock McLean | 9 | 5 | ||
| 6 | Scott Thompson | 12 | 8 | ||
| 7 | Brad Miller | 22 | 13 | ||
| 8 | Alistair Nicholson | 23 | 0 | ||
| 9 | David Neitz (c) | 21 | 69 | ||
| 10 | Daniel Ward | 10 | 1 | ||
| 11 | Darren Jolly | 7 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Colin Sylvia | 3 | 1 | ||
| 13 | Adem Yze | 23 | 19 | ||
| 15 | Nick Smith | 0 | 0 | ||
| 16 | Travis Johnstone | 16 | 12 | ||
| 17 | Chris Johnson | 0 | 0 | ||
| 18 | Brad Green | 21 | 26 | ||
| 19 | Peter Vardy | 11 | 12 | ||
| 20 | Troy Broadbridge | 14 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Daniel Bell | 3 | 0 | ||
| 23 | James McDonald | 18 | 3 | ||
| 24 | Russell Robertson | 22 | 30 | ||
| 25 | Nathan Brown | 22 | 5 | ||
| 26 | Luke Williams | 2 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Jared Rivers | 22 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Phil Read | 21 | 4 | ||
| 29 | Chris Lamb | 0 | 0 | ||
| 30 | Simon Godfrey | 14 | 3 | ||
| 31 | Paul Wheatley | 20 | 2 | ||
| 32 | Cameron Bruce | 22 | 34 | ||
| 33 | Cameron Hunter | 0 | 0 | ||
| 34 | Jeff White | 23 | 8 | ||
| 35 | Ryan Ferguson | 0 | 0 | ||
| 40 | Mark Jamar | 3 | 0 | ||
| 41 | Nathan Carroll | 4 | 0 | ||
| 42 | Peter Walsh | 13 | 7 | ||
| 43 | Guy Rigoni | 7 | 2 | ||
| 45 | Matthew Whelan | 20 | 1 | ||
Rookie List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 14 | Luke Molan | 0 | 0 | ||
| 36 | Aaron Davey | 19 | 28 | ||
| 37 | Paul Newman | 0 | 0 | ||
| 38 | Joel Campbell | 0 | 0 | ||
| 44 | Adam Fisher | 0 | 0 | ||
| 46 | Dale Carson | 0 | 0 | ||
Best and Fairest
Five members of the match committee select the best five players each week and rate them out of 10.
| Player | Votes | ||||
| 1 | Jeff White | 287 | |||
| 2 | Nathan Brown | 286 | |||
| 3 | Adem Yze | 280 | |||
| 4 | Cameron Bruce | 239 | |||
| 5 | David Neitz | 219 | |||
| 6 | Matthew Whelan | 215 | |||
| 7 | Brad Green | 178 | |||
| 8 | James McDonald | 155 | |||
| 9 | Jared Rivers | 152 | |||
| 10 | Alistair Nicholson | 135 | |||
Other Awards
Best Clubman - Guy Rigoni
Best Team Player - Adem Yze
Most Consistent - Nathan Brown
Most Improved - Jared Rivers
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 1 | Daniel Ward | Unduly Rough Play | 3 matches | ||
| Round 2 | James McDonald | Wrestling | Not Guilty | ||
| Round 2 | Travis Johnstone | Abusive Language | $1200 fine | ||
| Round 4 | Russell Robertson | Striking | 1 match | ||
| Round 7 | Chris Heffernan | Tripping | Not Guilty | ||
| Round 9 | Scott Thompson | Striking | 1 match | ||
| Round 14 | Adem Yze | Charging | Withdrawn | ||
| Round 19 | Ben Holland | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
| Round 19 | David Neitz | Wrestling | $5000 fine | ||
| Round 22 | Chris Heffernan | Striking | 1 match | ||
| Elimination Final | Brad Miller | Wrestling | $1200 | ||
Coaching staff
Chris Fagan - Assistant Coach
Mark Riley - Assistant Coach
Brett Ratten - Assistant Coach
Darren Flanigan - Ruck Coach
Paul Ford - Conditioning Coach
Stephen Tingay - Football and Conditioning Assistant
VFL
Sandringham Zebras 2004 season
Media
Age - 22/05/2004, 04/09/2004, 11/10/2004