Kiwis rebounded from a seven-goal Tamworth men's hockey first grade opening round loss in emphatic fashion on Saturday, a second half goal avalanche propelling them to a big win over Tudor Wests.
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Held scoreless by South United in their season opener, after scoring two goals in the first half, Kiwis slotted nine in the second to run out 11-2 winners.
Josh Worpel and Ryan Taggart both scored hat-tricks and George Nash a double in a performance returning coach Greg Doolan felt like they had been building towards for "quite some time".
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From what he has seen the couple of years, they have got some talented young players coming through. They just probably "haven't played as a team".
The stalwart, who was part of their 2017 premiership triumph, is back in the dugout for the first time in a "long long time" (he has helped out "here and there"), and is so far enjoying being back involved with the club.
"I missed it," he admitted.
On Saturday they were guilty in the first half of "doing what we've always done" - trying to play too fast and making "silly turnovers" as a result.
After a bit of a "rev-up" at half-time they played with more structure and control in the second half and reaped the rewards on the scoreboard. Doolan acknowledged Tudors did run out of legs, but a lot of that was to do with them running them ragged with the way they moved the ball.
"It's the first time we've actually played that way. Hopefully we can develop on that and keep going forward and not go back to our old ways," he said.
The midfield were really strong for them, particularly in the second half when they got them more involved.
It is a new-look midfield. Doolan has moved Josh Worpel up in there, while Noah Pitt has joined the club this year from Tudors. Nathan Czinner was also down from Armidale on Saturday.
Taggart, Stuart McAdam and Josh Morris were all stepping up from last year's second grade side, the latter also finding the net.
Nash was among their best with Doolan commenting that it was probably one of the best games he's seen him play.
In the other game Nick O'Connor bagged his second hat-trick in as many games as South United outgunned defending premiers Workies 7-1. Jarrod McCluand also continued his goal-scoring form with his second double.
