West Tamworth, seemingly down and out in January, have made their first grand final since their victorious 2010-11 season.
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And Shaun Stevenson - the man who skippered Wests to a first-innings preliminary final defeat of City United at No.1 Oval this weekend - is one of two survivors from that side. The other is destructive allrounder Harrison Kelly.
Stevenson, who replaced David Mudaliar as captain this season, has presided over a stunning form reversal, in which Wests have remained undefeated for six rounds - screaming up the ladder to book a grand final appointment against runaway minor premiers Old Boys at No.1 Oval this weekend.
Stevenson recently said their was a "good vibe" permeating throughout the side.
"Awesome" was his response after downing City. "It's unreal," he said. "It's a really, really big effort from the lads - a massive turnaround."
He added: "We'll just enjoy this win today and prepare this week. And yeah, just over the moon."
Wests beat Norths in the knockout final the previous weekend.
Old Boys have generally dominated Wests in recent seasons. But Wests will draw strength from their round-seven performance against this era's best side by a mile: an unlikely outright win at Riverside 1.
On that day, Old Boys declared their second innings on 1-65. And Wests finished on 2-222, off 37 overs, to claim victory.
Mudaliar made 63 on that day. But it is highly unlikely the veteran, who turns 45 soon, will play in the grand final.
Wicketkeeping on Sunday, he broke and dislocated his ring finger.
On Friday, Mudaliar told The Leader that he was finally feeling "100 per cent" after batting illness and injury this season, including dislocating his left thumb while keeping.
His "gut" tells him he will not play against Old Boys. "But I'm gonna strap it up and see how it goes this week.
"It means heaps [to play in the grand final]. Just watching the boys and how they've fought so hard all year, you just want to contribute something."
West Tamworth were in the box seat when they dismissed City United for 106 on Saturday, then made 146 in reply.
For Wests, opening quick Cameron Reeves and off-spinner Kelly both took three wickets. Noah Pitt (25) and Tom Fitzgerald (24) top-scored for City.
In Wests first innings, Stevenson (29) and Kelly (28) top-scored.
City finished on 3-177 dec in their second dig, with Fitzgerald (64) and Tait Jordan (52) excelling.
Set 137 for an outright win, with a few hours of play left on Sunday, West finished on 5-113 in 44 overs. Kelly made 27 and Reeves 24 not out.
For City, it was a disappointing end to what was a wretched two months for them. The one-time competition leaders did not win a game in the last six rounds.
But it could have been very different for them. In last week's major semi-final against Old Boys, they were in a strong position to get the first-innings win, before day two was washed out.
City captain Brad Smith said: "Happy with our season overall, compared to where we came from two years ago. But a bit disappointing yesterday [Saturday] - 100 runs is never gonna win you a final."
