fans. Saints made the Grand Final in 1992, 1993 and 1996, but were unable to win the premiership. In 1992 and 1993, coached by the former Illawarra Steelers coach Brian Smith, the Dragons met the Brisbane Broncos in successive deciders. On the first occasion St George were captained by centre Michael Beattie, but Brisbane was too classy, running away with the game in the 2nd half to win 28–8, including a 95-metre try to Broncos centre Steve Renouf in which he just outpaced Ricky Walford to score. Twelve months later in 1993, there were high expectations for the Dragons having comfortably accounted for Canberra 31–10 and Canterbury 27–12 in the semi-finals, and with the Broncos having scraped into the finals in fifth place. The sides for the grand final replay were largely unchanged between the two years. Only one Bronco (Peter Ryan), and four of the Dragons (Jason Stevens, Nathan Brown, Gorden Tallis and Phil Blake) had not played in the 1992 Grand Final. forward Steven's game turned sour in only the second tackle of the game when he suffered a thumb injury that required him leaving the field and being taken to hospital for surgery. Brisbane withstood an early Dragons barrage which brought much hope but no points. Then two tries to Brisbane sent them to the break with a 10–2. Saints winger Ian "Chook" Herron kept the Dragons in touch with three penalty goals to make it 10–6, but the title stayed north of the border when Broncos winger Willie Carne scored two minutes from full-time. In 1995, after exploring the possibility of a merger with the Roosters in an attempt to match the turnover of the all-conquering Brisbane Broncos, chief executive Geoff Carr was sacked by his board. St George played in their last Grand Final as a single club when they faced off against Manly-Warringah in the 1996 decider, with the Sea Eagles winning 20-8 in front of 40,985 fans at the Sydney Football Stadium. The David Waite coached Dragons had finished the season in 7th position and won their way through to the Grand Final with wins over Canberra (16-14), Sydney City (36-16), and North Sydney (29-12) in the Semi-finals. St George's last Grand Final captain was Queensland State of Origin and Australian test centre Mark Coyne. The Dragons' first points of the Grand Final came in the 37th minute when Wayne Bartrim kicked a