The Thunder will take on defending champion Canterbury Red Devils in two games in its first hit-out for the side for the year.
It will then travel to Queenstown next week to meet the Southern Stampede in another round of warm-up games.
Coach Janos Kaszala, who is in his third year with the team, said although this weekend's games were only training matches there was a small measure of wanting to make up for the disappointment of last year when the side lost to the Red Devils by two straight games in the final series.
The team had been slowly building into the season and had some new imports this year.
Kaszala said imports come and go but Dunedin had a good reputation which kept players of good quality coming to Dunedin.
Czech goalkeeper Jakub Pyrochta is a key man for the Thunder this year.
The 23-year-old made national junior age-group sides and his ability at the back will be a catalyst for a successful Thunder season.
French defenceman Arthur Cocar has also joined the Thunder along with Finnish forward Hannu Harju.
A fourth import, a forward from the United States, is due to arrive in the next couple of weeks.
There have been a few player changes with students graduating and moving on but there is a solid core in the squad.
Kaszala said with the side falling short in the past two finals the goal was to finally get over the hurdle and win the big prize this year.
The national league will start early next month.
