Nathan Cleary was sick of reading "rubbish and lies" so forced himself to stop using social media in what he said was probably the toughest week of his career.
The result was a winning field goal in golden point to lift his Penrith side off the canvas after the Monday sacking of head coach Anthony Griffin.
The 20-year-old halfback had been overwhelmed by the drama surrounding Griffin's exit, with father and Wests Tigers coach Ivan dragged into it when touted for a return to the club.
But, as Griffin and Penrith general manager Phil Gould traded barbs, Cleary put his head down and on Saturday orchestrated a third-straight miracle comeback, this time 17-16 over the Gold Coast.
He even had the blinkers on the morning of the game, insisting he hadn't watched or read about Ivan's media conference, in which his father said he was committed to the Tigers until 2020.
The contest in Robina proved just as dramatic, with Cleary scoring then missing a conversion after fulltime that would have sealed the comeback win.
He then had a field goal fly just under the crossbar to begin golden-point extra time before nailing the winner from his second attempt.
"It was pretty crazy, especially the start of the week," Cleary told reporters.
"It was a massive bombshell and everything just hit it.
"My wrongdoing was I was on social media too much and reading too much rubbish ... there was a lot of stuff out there at the time, a lot of lies, and I didn't want to delve into that too much."
Cleary said his mother was in the same boat and between them they decided to put themselves on a midweek media ban.
Cleary won't make a call on his own future until after the season, shrugging off suggestions his father's commitment to the Tigers or Griffin's exit had helped him come to a decision.
Ciraldo said Cleary deserved praise for how he handled the week.
"You've just got to pinch yourself and remember he's 20," he said.
"His maturity is way beyond his years.
"So pleased for the bloke next to me to win it for us after the week he's had."
