1961:
SAINTS WHIP NEWTOWN
Kogarah Jubilee Oval, 30 July 1961: St George have delivered a thrashing to Newtown defeating the Bluebags by 65-9. It was Saints biggest win of the season and Newtown's biggest ever defeat. It was also the biggest winning score since World War Two. Saints' try scorers were John King (3), Eddie Lumsden (2), Bob Bugden (2), Norm Provan (2), Peter Armstrong (2), John Raper (1), John Riley (1), Bill Wilson (1), Kevin Brown (1). Brian Graham kicked 10 goals. 
Johhny King had a magnificent year playing in all matches and scoring 20 tries for the season. Bill Wilson, Brian Graham and Kevin Ryan also went the whole season without missing a match. Despite all this, Saints were unable to pip Wests for the minor premiership with both teams completing the 18 rounds on 30 points each. Wests gained the minor premiership by having a higher 'points for' tally which gave them a slightly better for and against average. Saints finished second on the ladder. Interestingly, the £250 prize awarded to the minor premiers was divided in two between Saints and Wests so there is room for debate as to how the League viewed the minor premiership in 1961. Whatever the feeling, the issue of the minor premiership didn't deter Saints who went on to defeat Wests twice on their way to claiming the premiership for the sixth year running.
DRAGONS V WESTS
Sydney Cricket Ground, 2 September 1961: Saints have beaten Wests in the major semi final 9-4 in a tight match which yielded just one try to Norm Provan. Reg Gasnier had an ordinary match, rarely seeing the ball and knocking on twice. Despite their loss, Wests were confident of rolling Saints in the Grand Final. The Saints' selectors chose to overlook Ken Kearney who was just coming back from an injury lay off and was deemed not fit enough to risk in the semis, let alone the Grand Final. Killer, in his role as coach started playing mind games with both Wests and his own club, claiming in the press that he had been made offers from other clubs for 1962 and one of those clubs was Wests. This served to unsettle Wests more than anyone and they hotly denied the rumour. Kearney was then reported to say that Grand Final will be "Reg Gasnier's day" and that Saints would win by "10 points or more or be beaten".

SAINTS STUNNING IN 22-0 DEMOLITION OF WESTS
Sydney Cricket Ground, 16 September 1961: St George have won their sixth Grand Final in a row, stunning Western Suburbs by 22-0. Faced with murky conditions with rain tumbling down from time to time, Wests were knuckling down for another tight forward struggle as was the case in the major semi. However, Saints stunned Wests as they ignored the conditions and threw the ball around. The backline ran riot.
Eddie Lumsden (pictured right) had a tremendous match, scoring three tries and Johnny King scored another in a match that can only be described as overflowing with classic displays of champagne football.
Brian Clay, the best player on the field cut loose against his opposite, the veteran Keith Holman.
In every attacking raid there was an abundance of St George players backing up as the Wests' defence became more and more compressed. At half time it was 17-nil and the match had been called. St George scored again in the second half and then proceeded to lock Wests out - which they did, winning 22-0.

1961 GRAND FINAL FULLTIME: Saints 22 Wests 0 Scorers (St George) Tries: Eddie Lumsden 3, Johnny King 1. Goals: Brian Graham 5 Referee: D. Lawler Crowd: 61,196

1962:
PARRA BEAT SAINTS

HISTORY SPOT LAVER WINS GRAND SLAM

Cumberland Oval, 15 July 1962: Under the guidance of Ken Kearney and with Bob Bugden at halfback, Parramatta had their first successful season and actually downed St George 19-8. Parramatta would go on to make the semis in 1962 but would fail to score a point against Wests in the minor semi final going down 6-nil on 25 August.
NEW SIGNINGS: In 1962, Saints signed winger Brian James, halfback George Evans, second rower Elton Rasmussen and hooker come prop Ian Walsh from Eugowra.

JUDGMENT DAY 1962 The 1962 premiers Click on pic for larger image and names (50Kb) 1962 GRAND FINAL FULLTIME: Saints 9 (Johnny King 1 try. Kevin McDonald 3 goals) defeated Wests 6 (K Bray 3 goals) Referee: J. Bradley Crowd: 41,184 Sydney Cricket Ground, 15 September 1962: In a rain soaked Grand Final, St George were good enough to overcome Wests 9-6 and win their seventh Grand Final in a row. It was a tight forward struggle with many misdemeanors from sides. Wests did all they could to contain Reg Gasnier and were successful as the star centre was targeted by offside defenders who hammered Gasnier at every opportunity. Kevin Ryan holds the ball close to his chest as he is swamped by Wests' defenders during the 1962 Grand Final. Click on pic for larger image (63Kb) Saints were favoured by a strong breeze in the first half but as luck would have it, the wind dropped in the second half giving Wests no advantage. The only try of the match was scored in the 17th minute by Johnny King after Norm Provan busted through and found Kevin Ryan in support who in turn found King on the fly. The winger notched up another 'King Hit' when he ran 30 yards over sodden ground to score. Saints' best were Kevin Ryan, Ian Walsh and Johnny Raper (who played five eighth in place of Brian Clay who was having a bad year with injuries). The match will also be remembered for a couple of off-the-ball incidents which began with Norm Provan being knocked out by Wests' Jim Cody five minutes before half time. 'Sticks' was assisted from the field and didn't return again until well into the second half. Cody got off scot free. Billy Wilson came out as captain in the second half and apparently squared things up when Cody was felled before the first tackle took place. Eye witness and Saints' forward, Monty Porter claims that Wilson was being grabbed at by Cody and received a back hander for his trouble. The 'back hander' saw Cody lying in the mud, unconscious and bleeding. The referee, most of the players and most of the SCG crowd had no real idea what happened. But a number of Wests' players were protesting loudly, the image of Cody on the ground was not a pretty sight. Referee Jack Bradley sent Wilson off and Saints were reduced to 11 men. Even when Norm Provan returned 15 minutes later, Saints had to dig deep. In what can only be described as a heroic defensive effort, Saints held out Wests and won the match.

1963:
SAINTS SLAUGHTER PARRA
Sydney Cricket Ground, 6 April 1963: St George have opened their season with a 51-2 thrashing of Parramatta. Former Dragon, Bob Bugden was singled out by the Saints forwards and given 'special' treatment. Reg Gasnier and Eddie Lumsden scored three tries each. Ken Kearney's Parramatta team was humiliated.
The first round result set the tone for the season as Saints thrashed Easts (25-9), Souths (34-12 and 29-5), Manly (39-0), Norths (26-7 and 40-8), Newtown (25-7 and 40-4), Balmain (27-0), and Canterbury (54-5). Saints were easy minor premiers. In fact, Saints lost only two matches in the 18 rounds - to Wests when they went down 8-5 and 12-5. Despite the two losses, St George's 1963 statistics looked tremendous. In 18 rounds of first grade football, the Dragons scored 434 points but only conceded 95 points. This amazing defensive record had never been achieved before and has never been bettered since.
WESTS DOWN SAINTS IN SEMI
Sydney Cricket Ground, 10 August 1963: Wests have defeated St George in the major semi final by 10-8. This is the third time that Wests have defeated Saints this year. There was some dispute over the first round result, won by Wests 8-5 when referee Darcy Lawler disallowed a 'fair' try to Reg Gasnier but in the end, Wests came away with a win thanks to four penalty goals (Saints scored the only try). There was no doubt over the second round result, won by Wests 12-5. It was the first time that Saints had been beaten by the same team twice in one season since they began their 'Golden Years' run in 1956. All three encounters were tough matches giving St George reason for concern and their arch rivals Wests every reason to believe that they had Saints' measure. To get to the Grand Final, the Dragons had to defeat a determined Parramatta team 12-7.

WESTS BATTER GASNIER IN MUDDY GRAND FINAL DECIDER 1963 GRAND FINAL FULLTIME: Saints 8 Wests 3 Scorers (St George) Tries:  George Evans 1, Johnny King 1 Goals: Reg Gasnier 1 Referee: D. Lawler Crowd: 69,860 Sydney Cricket Ground, 24 August 1963: St George have won their eighth Grand Final in a row in controversial circumstances, downing Wests 8-3 in front of almost 70,000 people. Norm Provan after the 1963 Grand Final. Click on pic for larger image. From the opening whistle the 1963 decider was a grueling affair. The wet SCG pitch quickly became a quagmire and players became unrecognisable as the ground turned into a grey, thick mudheap. At one point, St George five eighth, Bruce Pollard was blinded by the mud so badly that he couldn't pass or catch the ball so he swapped places with John Raper and played out the second half at lock. Raper also set up the best movement of the match when he broke the line and found Reg Gasnier in support. Reg, with a Wests defender hanging off him, sent the ball to Norm Provan who was backing up out wide. Provan then found Johnny King in support who almost scored. The 1963 Premiers Click on image for larger pic As the match developed, it was clear that Wests had a game plan which was targeted at Saints' centre three quarters. Wests' player, Gil McDougall singled out Reg Gasnier and other Wests players joined in as Gasnier spent most of the afternoon getting punched, stiff-armed and kneed. He was bashed out of the match and became a passenger in the back line. Despite this, St George were getting an unusual favourable run from the referee, Darcy Lawler. The game's No.1 ref, Lawler was sometimes accused of enjoying the odd bet. A number of Wests players believe to this day that the 1963 Grand Final was a rort and point to a number of questionable decisions. Just before half time, Wests had a try disallowed. Then with only 15 minutes remaining and the score slightly favouring Saints 5-3, Johnny King received a pass from newcomer Graeme Langlands and raced through the mud down his wing, fending off his opposite John Mowbray.