Centre Konrad Hurrell admits he felt he owed the Warriors after producing a barnstorming display in the 54-12 NRL defeat of Canberra.
After a week in which he had to deal with the fallout from the leaking of a personal sex video, Hurrell looked like a man on a mission at Eden Park.
He scored one try with an unstoppable 60-metre run, created another for second rower Jayson Bukuya and was a regularly a handful for the opposition.
He made three line breaks and 12 tackle breaks, and ran for more than 200 metres.
"I needed a big performance for everyone, especially for the club and for my mum - it was her first game watching," he said.
"Hopefully they were happy with my performance today."
Hurrell, 22, said the last few days had been tough, but he separated his private life from his football.
"When it comes to myself, that's my problem," he said.
"When it comes to footy, I don't want to let the boys down and the club too, so I just need to perform well."
Hurrell is noted for blowing a kiss to the camera for his mother, Fatafehi, each time he scores.
The match against the Raiders was extra special for him in that it was the first time his mother, who had flown in from Tonga, had seen him in NRL action in person.
Hurrell's fitness has been an issue in the past, but coach Andrew McFadden described his performance over the 80 minutes against the Raiders as "pretty awesome".
Skipper Simon Mannering said he hadn't been concerned about how his teammate would react to the unwanted publicity he had attracted, given how he had prepared during the week.
"He was training really hard and you could tell he was focused," Mannering said.
"It's probably a hard thing for a young guy to try and put that media attention to one side and concentrate on the football, and he did it really well."
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