Northstars conquer preseason with back-to-back wins over the Rhinos

Credit: Jess Fuller

The Escadia Newcastle Northstars kicked off their pre-season in style, defeating the Central Coast Rhinos across back-to-back trial games on the weekend - winning 5 to 4 on Saturday night and 7 to 2 on Sunday.

The standout performer across both games was Maliq West, who scored the game-winning goal on Saturday before backing it up with a hat-trick on Sunday. West was joined on the scoresheet by Patrick Nadin, Beau Taylor, Francis Drolet (3), Shane Southwood, Riley Tonks, and import Calvin Bright.

Captain Liam Manwarring was upbeat after the wins, saying the exhibition format gave the whole squad a chance to find their feet.

"It feels good to get some reps in before the season starts. We're lucky to be a team in the league that can have these exhibition games. It's great to see our young guys in the lineup — they're fantastic, and everyone up and down the line gets to play equal minutes where our senior guys can get their game in order, and our young guys showcase what they have," he said.

Manwarring also flagged that the squad is shaping up to be stronger than last year. "We're going to have a really, really deep roster this year. I think it's deeper than last year. The two guys we added today were great - they only touched down two days ago, and they're skilled guys who are here for a reason and fit in the room really well."

Head Coach Kevin Noble echoed the positivity, with an eye firmly on next weekend's season opener.

"It's a chance for the guys to get their legs under them and get some game-like habits back, along with their mindset heading into next weekend. Good guys can shake off the rust, get the team concepts down and get the repetitions back following the summer break," said Noble.

"Next week, there will be a lot of work for us. Everybody starts at zero, and we have to set out on the season grind, win by win. We look like the little details have sunk in over the two games played; the team is ready to go, embark on a long season, and play the right way. We got out of it what we needed to, and we're fit and healthy," he added.

The Northstars officially open their 2026 Australian Ice Hockey League season on the road this weekend, facing the Adelaide Adrenaline and Melbourne Ice on 18–19 April, before returning home to host the Canberra Brave at Newcastle on Anzac Day, 25 April.