2004 Wizard Cup Semi Final
Melbourne vs Geelong
Friday 5 March
Venue: Docklands
Attendance: 18,357
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 0.3.3 | 0.3.6 | 1.6.10 | 2.8.10.76 |
| Geelong | 0.5.4 | 1.6.7 | 2.7.8 | 2.11.8.77 |
Geelong win by 1 point
9pt goalkickers: David Neitz 1, Brad Green 1
6pt goalkickers: David Neitz 3 , Aaron Davey 2, Brad Green 1, Russell Robertson 1, Travis Johnstone 1
Two sides with ridiculously long premiership droughts met, with the promise of a pre-season cup final on offer. Melbourne had at least won pre-season tournaments in 1987 and 1989. Geelong had won nothing since 1963.
David Neitz suffered a jarred back in a marking contest, but returned to boot four goals. His last seemed to seal victory in controversial circumstances. Matthew Scarlett was penalised for holding Neitz 50m off the ball - and because the infringement took place outside the 50m arc it counted as a 9 point goal.
But when Kent Kingley kicked his fourth with three minutes left to put Geelong in front they won, despite repeated Melbourne thrusts forward.
After a poor 2003, Neale Daniher was positive about his side's performance. "The way they're playing you can cop losing, the way they're playing you're just not going to lose by much," he said.
"You just sense if you keep having a crack, you're not going to lose by much at all and it was the barest margin."
Best were Green, Ward and Thompson. Neitz jarred his back.