Steady improvers since finishing bottom in 2016-17, the Lions have lost just twice all year - to Westbury in the T20 final and round 16 - to advance to the decider as favourites.

A thumping win over the Shamrocks in the Greater Northern Cup final was a huge achievement for the Lions, but their attention quickly turned to the main goal.

"All the boys are pretty excited," Taylor said ahead of Friday's game.

"I think only Rowan [Smith] and Cam [Lynch] have played in a grand final before so we're all pretty keen to get stuck in.

"Just because it's been nine years [since the club's last grand final] doesn't make it more special, but it's a good reward for a lot of grind work the boys and the club has done over that period of time."

The Lions' success in 2020-21 has come from rounded contributions.

Taylor (630 runs and 25 catches) has led from the front, but four other players (Lynch, James Curran, Ben Humphrey and Tom Beaumont) have also made hundreds.

Three others have made fifties while the wickets have been shared between Curran, Tom Gray, Daniel Smith and Dihan Cloete.

Of those mentioned, Taylor, Smith, Gray, Lynch, Humphrey and Curran were all first-team regulars in 2016-17.

"We grinded a lot for a few years there where we were on the bottom of the ladder not winning too many games," Taylor said.

Credit to the boys - they stuck at it... it's certainly been a proper rebuild.

"They've all played 60 to 70 A-grade games now and starting to dominate in their own right, so it's good for those guys to get some sort of reward in playing in a grand final."

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Awaiting in the final is a side the Lions have beaten in all three formats this season.

But after watching nine-time grand finalist Westbury fall last week, the Lions know Riverside can't be taken lightly.

"Obviously Westbury finished second so I suppose they were the favourite, but we know cricket's a really funny game so we were planning somewhat for both teams throughout last week," Taylor said.

"They're a good solid unit - they've got some really good batters, they bat pretty deep and they've got some good bowlers that bowl a little bit differently in their own style with the spinners.

"I think the teams match up pretty well."

When Riverside scraped through to finals, few must have been expecting them to challenge for the title.

Awaiting in the preliminary final was Westbury - the two-time reigning champion who had played in the last nine grand finals and won five of them.

But a 64-run upset later, anything is possible.

Into the Cricket North grand final for the first time in 14 years, the Blues have a 40-year flag drought in their sights.

Gun opener and skipper Tom Garwood believes his side can get the job done.

"Everyone is really pumped, but obviously a lot of hard work has gone into it and a lot of hard work to come over Friday, Saturday, Sunday which we're looking forward to," the 28-year-old said.

"It's a big thing for the club, it's been building for a few years now and to get the opportunity to play in a grand final, we'll take it with both hands.

"It's the one goal we've had over the previous years - we've had a dry spell with the [first-grade] premiership.

"We've had third-grade and second-grade premierships at the club but we're really looking forward to bringing the flag back to Riverside this year."

The Blues have an experienced spine in Garwood, coach Lyndon Stubbs, Patty Mackrell and Ramesh Sundra with a host of young talent to match.

Cooper Anthes has gained valuable experience with the Raiders senior and under-18 programs this year while fellow teen sensation Aidan O'Connor has showed maturity above his years.

After experimenting with the batting line-up throughout the season, Riverside looks set to roll out Jack Colgrave as Garwood's opening partner with keeper Pete New further down the order.

"I think our middle order looks pretty good with Patty, Rama and Pete [New] at five, six and seven and Cooper took a chance last week at four and batted really well - that was probably the best innings I've seen from him," Garwood said.

"Matthew Kerrison can bat wherever he wants so we're putting him at three as well, he likes the pace coming on and backs his own ability.

"Jack will be opening, I think his mental side of the game is really good, so he'll nut it out and back his ability to get some runs and bat time."

Like Lions counterpart Alistair Taylor, Garwood is into his fourth year as captain after succeeding Alex Saunders in 2017-18.

The Blues finished fourth in his first three seasons but have the chance to make history as Garwood looks to follow in the footsteps of father Jeff as a Riverside premiership player.

"Dad and both brothers have played at the cricket club for a long time, a lot of time and effort has gone into that so [I'd love to] just reward everyone with the flag," Garwood said.

"Being captain of an A-grade premiership is something I've strived for my whole cricket career, so to win the flag would be an amazing achievement for the hard work everyone's put in."

The grand final will take place at the NTCA No.1 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with play beginning at 11am each day.