The success of Forestville's men in recent years is second to none. It has participated in five of the seven Grand Finals this decade and apart from a 6th placing in 2004, has always been in contention.

West Adelaide also has a proud history of success in this level. Its dominance in the 70s and early 80s will probably never be matched, but apart from a grand final appearance in 2001, success in recent times has been leaner.

In this year's competition, size is everything. The biggest top 5 teams all have NBL-calibre big men (Cooper, Rychart, Oakley, Truslove and Dodman). Bearcat Truslove averages 16.9 points and 10.7 rebounds, and is peaking at the right time. Against Sturt last week, he had 25 and 16, and will be a handful for the Eagle front court of Kane Oakley and Peter Hoban.

Oakley has averaged 18.6 points and 13.5 rebounds this season, but also has the versatility to move to the three point line, averaging over one made three pointer per game. Forestville's switching defence may mean that Oakley and Hoban share the job of keeping Truslove away from the basket, but at the other end, expect Truslove to spend most of the game chasing Oakley inside and out.

Forestville's 36-22 first quarter put them in the box seat against North, but could not maintain their free flowing game for 4 quarters. West also did it tough against Sturt, and were never able to pull away from the Sabres.

In their first encounter this season, Forestville won comfortably, though their last meeting was much closer. Guards Brendan Mann (28 points) and Trent Fildes (27 points) were the standout performers of this game, but Anthony Spadavecchia, Danny Phillips, Brenton Campbell and Brad Sullivan all have the ability to score from the perimeter. Sullivan in particular comes to play at this time of year, and if he can recreate his efforts of previous finals, Forestville should be too strong.