For all their dominance and success this season, neighbourhood rivals Norwood and North will be in unfamiliar territory in the 2007 Central ABL Grand Final.

Neither club has won a men's championship this decade. Norwood's last victory was in 1999 when Rupert Sapwell was a player, but since then, its best effort was last year's third place, when a miraculous game from David Cooper was not enough.

North hasn't been involved in this game since 1983, before some of the stars of its current team were even born. It was at the wrong end of Norwood's 1999 Grand Final victory, and went within a whisker of knocking off Forestville in 2003, but realistically, this is its best chance in 20 years of taking home the major prize.

The teams have had some fantastic battles this season. The round 9 game at Mars was won by Norwood, with Todd Matthews scoring 35 points. The round 18 game at Hillcrest was a 1 point overtime thriller to determined the minor premiership. In front of 700+ fans at Mars two weeks ago, the tables turned again, and Norwood booked a Grand Final berth with an 11 point victory.

The match-up between Dusty Rychart, the league's best offensive player, and David Cooper, the league's best defensive player, will be a highlight. Despite their depth, North's fortunes have tracked with Rychart's performances, and on the two occasions that Norwood have defeated North, he scored less than 20.

League co-MVP Todd Matthews brings his A-game when it counts. In each of the two minor round games against North this year, he scored 35 points, and also created a stack of opportunities for teammates. Rocket shooter Erik Burdon doesn't mind a big occasion either, as he proved with his 36 point effort in last week's preliminary final.

Coaches Rupert Sapwell and Justin Schueller have seen enough of each other on tape and in-the-flesh this year to have formulated a plan to nullify opposition strengths. North's key will be limiting Matthews' ability to score and create, while Nowood will need to repeat it's method of keeping Dusty to a manageable total. Michael Zorich's best performances come when he's allowed to run in the open court, and Norwood do well when Cooper can rotate off his player to intimidate penetrating guards.

The game's outcome will be determined by the quality of the plan, and how well it's executed. Either way, it will be an entertaining affair.