as captain of St. George, a year when they failed to make the finals. Coyne's leadership capabilities were fully acknowledged in 1995 when he was captain of St. George, Vice Captain of Queensland and made his Test debut for the Kangaroos. In 1996 Coyne lead the Dragons to another Grand Final, but despite playing a great game himself the club lost controversially to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 20-8. In 1998, Coyne was honoured with a testimonial year at St. George and impressively, he chose to donate all the proceeds ($135,000) of that testimonial season to a children's charity. Coyne retired in 1999, whilst playing for the St. George Illawarra Dragons and after 12 seasons wearing the Dragons' Big Red V. By the end of his career he had played in 9 Test matches; 19 Origins and more than 200 first grade matches, of which more than 100 were as captain. Representative career Coyne made his State of Origin debut in game II of 1990 for Queensland, after impressive performances in the centres for his club. Mark had to bide his time and wait another two years before being selected for Queensland in games II and III of 1992. In game II that year Coyne popped up a great pass to send Billy Moore over for a try. Queensland went on to win the match 5-4. In 1993 Coyne played in all three games and set up a try for Mal Meninga in game II. But 1994 would ultimately provide the most memorable of Coyne's State of Origin appearances and enabled his entry to the annals of Maroon and Origin folklore. In game I, with Queensland down 12-10 and 40 seconds left on the clock, from deep in their own half the Maroons started one of the most memorable try-scoring movements. Allan Langer handled the ball twice in the 11-pass sequence which was finished when Coyne extended his arm in the right corner to thwart the last ditched defensive efforts of Brad Fittler and Ricky Stuart, breaking Blues' hearts in the process and winning the match in a heart-stopping finish. Although NSW went on to win the series 2-1, Channel 9 television commentator Ray "Rabbits" Warren famously stated in his call of the try "That's not a try that's a miracle". Unfortunately for Coyne, St. George suffered a severe downturn in form during the second half of the 1994 NSWRL season,