The North Stars climbed back from trailing the Canberra team 2-0 in the first two minutes of the game to winning 7-2.

It was a similar story in Penrith on Saturday night where the North Stars, trailing the Sydney Bears 4-2 after two periods of hockey, had to rally in the third to eventually win 6-4.

“The first two periods of Saturday’s game we were hot and cold, really inconsistent,” North Stars coach Andrew Petrie said.

“I think one of the issues on Saturday may have been that because of the [Sydney] Bears position on the ladder we were just going walk in there and things were going to go in our favour.

“I think the Bears taught us a really important lesson that that's just not the case. We had a good chat between second and third period that we probably weren't giving 100 per cent and that had to change and to the boys credit, they went out and did it.

“[Sunday], they did it themselves. I don't think there was any lack of effort or performance on our part that led to us being 2-nil down.

“The boys got two goals behind three minutes into the game but essentially ran the game from there on in with no real input from us the coaching staff. That's something they deserve a lot of credit for.”

Sunday’s game against the Brave was a must win for Newcastle, if not for the points but pride.

The Brave returned to Canberra with a win following its first encounter with the North Stars in Newcastle two weeks ago.

A fierce rivalry has developed between the two teams, fuelled by 2015 North Star import Geordie Wudrick’s move to Canberra to play for the Brave this season.

The rivalry will only deepen this weekend when the North Stars travel to Canberra to play CBR in their home barn.

Brandon Wong played his final games for the North Stars on the weekend. He spent five weeks playing in the AIHL.

New Newcastle import Brandon Greenside shined in his debut game on Saturday, scoring two of the North Stars' six goals.

Josh Harris, the North Stars’ second newest import, also scored in his debut game against the Bears.

He also scored the first Newcastle goal on Sunday.

“You're never 100 per cent sure of an imports skill level or how they're going to work on the roster you have,” Petrie said.

“I think both of those guys are extremely skilled and are both going to deliver a lot of points and kill a lot of penalties for us as well. We're really really happy with our imports.”

The North Stars face the CBR Brave in Canberra on Saturday, May 28 and Sydney Ice Dogs in Newcastle on Sunday, May 29.