In 1973, Moree residents went about their business the usual way.

The townsfolk loved their rugby league – known back then simply as “footie” – and the early 1970s was a stellar period for the game.

However, not many people were aware of a group of mismatched schoolboys training regularly under the astute guidance of coach John McLean.

No-one, except maybe coach McLean, realised this group of teenagers were on the cusp of rugby league greatness.

Moree High School had thrown its name in the ring for a crack at the University Shield, a schoolboy rugby league knock-out competition steeped in history.

Not many people gave these boys a chance. Coach John McLean had faith in them, and so did their families and close friends.

But, by and large, this was a team having a shot at the impossible.

The squad, made up of names that would later become etched in local and State sporting history, faced a mammoth task.

It was a pipedream, pure and simple, and during the early part of the season, most people treated it exactly as that – a pipedream.

For the first few weeks of the 1973 footie season, the good folk of Moree went about their business in the usual way.

Most worked six days, and long days at that. But on Sunday, if home games were scheduled, just about everyone crammed into Taylor Oval to watch three grades of rugby league. Sorry, footie.

The streets of Moree resembled a ghost town on any given Sunday when home games were programmed.

But down at Taylor Oval, where the tall wrought-iron fences were draped with hessian to stop tight-arses getting a free gander, there was standing room only.

University Shield team member Mike Hadfield well remembers those heady days.

“Very few people were interested in our journey until the game against Tamworth High School at Taylor Oval,” Hadfield recalled.

Tamworth High was a University Shield powerhouse – a force to be reckoned with.

After all, the school had won 12 University Shield grand-finals since the competition was first held in 1922 – and four of those wins were during the decade leading into the 1973 season.

“The lowly rated Moree High School team had not even played in a Uni Shield Grand Final whereas Tamworth High played in the six grand finals prior to 1973 and won three of them,” Mike said.

In a nutshell, Moree High was no hope of knocking off Tamworth, despite the fact the local team had put together three whopping wins against Warialda (48-6), Tenterfield (59-2) and Armidale (20-6).

“There was not much interest in those games because, I believe, they were all played on a Wednesday during school time,” Hadfield said.

In fact, those three matches didn’t even have printed programs to inform spectators – if there were any – who was playing.

“There was little interest in the games and the fact they were played during school time prohibited the escalation of interest,” Hadfield said.

The match against Tamworth, held at Taylor Oval on Saturday, June 16, 1973, changed all that, however. It was true David-and-Goliath stuff.

“This game, I believe, catapulted our journey.  Could we defeat the famous Tamworth High School side?  In hindsight, it appears that many thought we could, given the attendance that day,” Hadfield said.

Around 5000 spectators turned up to cheer on a hometown win – a record for a game of schoolboy football at Taylor Oval.

Tamworth was coached by Roy Masters, who, the previous year coached the inaugural Australian schoolboys’ representative side to tour Great Britain – undefeated, mind you.

The team took on all-comers in 12 matches and won the lot. They scored 402 points, including 108 tries.

Squad members in the UK included future stars Craig Young, Les Boyd, Ian Schubert and Royce Ayliffe.

Two other members – outside centre Stephen Fishenden and five-eight Gary Hollis – were in the Tamworth team against Moree that chilly winter afternoon at Taylor Oval.

Moree High School was pitted against a juggernaut. Pundits and purists said a hometown win was impossible; local supporters said otherwise.

Moree High achieved the impossible that day and defeated Tamworth High 14-2.

Roy Masters spat the dummy. He marched his deflated team off the paddock and onto the bus, and declined an offer of free entry for the entire team to Moree hot pools for an after-game wind-down.

“Following that win, many supporters started thinking that maybe the fairytale could come true,” Hadfield smiled.

And the fairytale did come true.

In the following weeks, Moree High School’s open-weight rugby league team rattled off wins against Maitland Boys High (27-5), Lismore High School (44-10) and Newcastle Technical High School 26-10) to set up a date with Forbes High School in the University Shield Grand-Final at Gosford’s Grahame Park on Saturday, August 18.

So important was the game against Lismore, the Moree Cup the same day was put back two hours so people could watch the match at Taylor Oval before heading to the races.

Moree High was one of 184 schools vying for University Shield honours in 1973.

The team met opponents in a competition that is built on history and acknowledged as the initial springboard to rugby league greatness.

Against overwhelming odds, this group of mismatched teenagers took on all-comers and soundly defeated them – the 1973 University Shield series was the year of the underdog, and a defining moment in Moree’s sporting and civic pride.

On August 18, 1973, Moree High School defeated Forbes High School 13-12 to give them a permanent place in schoolboy rugby league folklore.

Moree was never supposed to win the game – it just wasn’t in the script – but a successful conversion by 15-year-old Bernie Briggs off a John Brooks try in the dying minutes of the game sealed the win.

In the stands that day was Moree legend Terry Kelly, known universally as “Super”.

Sadly, Super and Bernie Briggs are no longer with us, but their legend lives on, and the story of how Bernie kicked that goal is well worth retelling.

It is a little-known fact, and not recorded in local sporting archives, that Super was the man responsible for helping Bernie kick that magical goal from the sideline – and the build-up to that match-winning kick was incredible.

Now the secret behind the kick can be revealed.

In August, 2003, Super opened up about his involvement in that conversion while having a couple of quiet ales at Moree’s Royal Hotel one lazy Saturday afternoon.

Super wasn’t prompted but, given the Uni Shield team would be home that month to celebrate 30 years since their extraordinary win, he felt the time was right to tell about such an important chapter of Moree rugby league history.

More than 1000 fans journeyed from Moree to Gosford to watch Moree High School win the University Shield 52 years ago today..

Extra train services were provided and at least 10 buses with standing room only made the trip across the Great Divide.

Super was a rugby league fanatic who liked nothing better than a good yarn over a cold beer on a hot day.

He remembered the trip to Gosford better than most.

Super had the privilege of making the journey in a brand-new Holden Torana owned by another Moree legend, the late Jack Skaines.

The road trip was relatively uneventful until disaster struck near Quirindi.

“We were driving along as proud as punch in this brand-new Torana when we struck trouble,” Super recalled.

“We were halfway across the Breeza Plains and there must have been some heavy rain because the bitumen had lifted and a piece of it tore straight through the petrol tank.

“We got towed into Quirindi but the people there didn’t have the right petrol tank because the car was new – they ended up putting a mini minor tank in the boot and let it gravity feed.

“Well, the car absolutely reeked of petrol and we couldn’t do a thing about it – I was too scared to light up a cigarette.

“But we made it to the ground when the score was 10-2 Forbes way, and if there is one thing I do remember well is what happened at half-time,” Super said.

“All the Moree people were sitting in one spot and a mob from Forbes came over trying to bet on the game.

“It didn’t matter that Moree was behind 10-5; the more money they put on Forbes, the more the punters from Moree took them on . . . gee, some money changed hands that day.”

But how was Super responsible for Bernie’s miraculous kick from the sideline – the kick that punted Moree High School into sporting history.

With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Super calmly explained how he could rightfully claim full responsibility for Moree’s one-point win.

“I remember the goal that won the game very well,” he said thoughtfully.

“I was sitting just off-centre behind the goal-posts and just as Bernie was lining up the ball we made eye contact.

“He looked across at me and paused for a second. I raised my finger and motioned just a little to the left.

“Bernie nodded and kicked . . . it was perfect,” Super said, with his trademark poker-face intact.

Happy anniversary, boys!