This weekend Tamworth should have been hosting the NSW Country Rugby Championships. With the tournament being cancelled, The Leader is looking back at the last time Central North and New England held the symbol of country rugby supremacy - the Caldwell Cup.
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First-up is Central North.
When James Quinn and Charlie Franklin held the Caldwell Cup aloft in front of a parochial Moree crowd back in 2001 it cemented Central North's dynasty as one of NSW Country rugby's most successful zones.
It was their third Country Championship in five years, having won in 1997 and then again in 1998 and eighth all up including an historic hat-trick between 1976 and 78.
Facing Newcastle in the final, the Kookaburras found themselves trailing with about five minutes to go. But they had the last laugh, winger Mark Hardy crossing in the dying minutes to seal a memorable 18-17 win.
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"It was just a really good side and so exciting to win," co-coach Geoff Bucknell reflected.
Bucknell coached the side with Rob Long and said the fact it was in Moree certainly worked in their favour.
"There was a lot of talent in the Moree side so we were able to call on a lot of those players," he said.
The Bulls were at that stage in the midst of their golden run ( hey would go on to win the premiership that year to make it four-in-a-row).
But it wasn't just the local contingent. Bucknell said there were "a lot of good players from a lot of clubs".
For several of them, including Quinn who had been part of both the 97 and 98 squads and had the honour of captaining the side in 2001, it was their Kookaburras swansong.
"A lot of those guys were either retiring or just wanted to give it their last shot," Bucknell said.
They also had the benefit of the home crowd support.
"The support the team got from the locals here was pretty great, they were definitely all behind us," Quinn reflected back in 2007.
Bucknell and Long had coached the side for the previous two years and left no stone unturned in their preparation, going into camp at Coffs Harbour and playing trial games against Penrith and Brisbane club Sunnybank.
"We had them mentally right," Bucknell said.
He attributes that as one of the secrets of their success.
"We really built towards the final and everyone knew their job," he said.
That really came to the fore in the final.
"I remember being subbed back on and looking around and everyone knew exactly what they had to do and we just did what we were going to do and came up with a try at the end," Quinn recalled.
Unfortunately since, the Kookaburras have struggled to emulate that success.
Their most recent silverware came in 2015 when under the guidance of Hunter Harley and Tom Cullen they came-from-behind to beat Southern Inland 20-15 to win the Richardson Shield.
