Preliminary Final - Sunday September 12, 2004
Riverina Football League. Gate: $7299
Venue: Narrandera Sportsground
Umpires: Brett McDonald, Greg Walsh and Pat O'Donoghue (RUA)
Coolamon ...... 0.1 .. 3.3 .. 6.9 .. 7.11 (53)
Griffith ........... 3.2 .. 6.4 .. 6.5 .. 10.8 (68)
COOLAMON ROVERS: Pat Edmunds, Bryan Munro, Brett Garrett; Leigh Drum, Jacob O'Neill, Francis Furner; Luke Maloney, Jamie Hard, Adam McKenzie; Ryan Chamberlain, Jamie Parr, Alex Manley; Andrew McCaig, Brendan McKelvie, Matt Hard (c-c); John Carroll, Anthony Breust, Nigel Scott; Matt Bradley, Sam Roberts, Jamie Maddox, Brendan McPherson
GRIFFITH: Matt Bunn, Simon Spiers, Damien Scott; Trent Bradley, Ben Wade, Myles Bunn; Ben Ford, Matthew McDonald, Michael Duncan; Rodney Duncan, Jeff Mickan, Phillip Rowston; Rodney Simpkin, Ashley Gardner, Jamie Bennett; David Curran, Adrian Burns (c-c), Shane Pound; Jason Hampel, Simon McClure, Dominic Giorgi, Chris Conlan
GOALS
Coolamon: J Parr 2, L Maloney 2, A McCaig, B McKelvie, N Scott
Griffith: A Gardner 4, R Simpkin 2, P Rowston 2, J Bennett, J Mickan
BEST PLAYERS
Coolamon: R Chamberlain, P Edmunds, A McKenzie, B Garrett, N Scott, J Carroll
Griffith: P Rowston, J Mickan, A Burns, M McDonald, S Pound, Matt Bunn

A summary of match report, with thanks
Against all odds, Griffith staged a phenomenal last quarter comeback at Narrandera Sportsground yesterday to qualify for their third consecutive RFL grand final. The Swans were out on their feet, trailing by 11 points and down a man with 13 minutes remaining when ruckman Dave Curran was sent from the field for 15 minutesfor an alleged alteration with an opponent and a runner from Coolamon.

However, sparked by the dramatic last term events, Griffith kicked four unanswered goals to record a stunning 10.8 (68) to 7.11 (53) win. Griffith captain-coach Adrian Burns heaped praise on the Swans players after their unlikely victory.

"There is a lot of spirit in this (dressing) room," he said. "We lifted when we had today. "It was a big effort, but we're in another grand final, we've still a chance." Curran and Coolamon's John Carroll were involved in a scuffle in the centre of the ground, when a Hoppers runner became involved in breaking the struggle up. While allegations flew after the game about the incident, Curran was shown a yellow card and sent from the field, leaving Griffith one player short for the rest of the game.

However, rather than hand the Hoppers victory on a platter, Griffith responded in stunning style. The Swans had not kicked a goal since half-time, but centre half-forward Rod Duncan sent Griffith surging forward, before setting up full-forward Ashley Gardner to break the drought.

Gardner became the centrepiece of Griffith's turnaround, booting three majors in a matter of minutes to turn an 11-point deficit into an eight-point lead. Veteran Phil Rowston then slammed home the sealing goal from point blank range with four minutes remaining.

After the game, Coolamon coach Matt Hard admitted the Hoppers were thinking too far ahead. "It was probably the worst thing that could have happened," he said. "We should have won from there, but we probably thought that all the time.

"You just can't take your foot off the pedal against Griffith." Hard wore headgear in yesterday's game after being knocked out in last weekend's semi-final loss to Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong. (The Area News - Monday September 13, 2004).

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Reserves: Leeton-Whitton 9.10 (64) def Coolamon 7.14 (56) 
Under 18: Mangoplah-CUE 8.14 (62) def Turvey Park 6.3 (39)
Netball - B grade: Leeton-Whitton 32 d Griffith 26; C grade: Griffith 24 d Leeton-Whitton 23