Relief and pride mixed with sheer agony for Simon Mannering, who in one night added another layer to his Warriors legacy in the NRL.
The 20-16 over Canberra in Auckland was dedicated to club great Mannering, who spent the entirety of his 300th match in pain.
The 32-year-old revealed he suffered a debilitating sternum injury in the opening act of the match.
Wanting to make a statement in potentially his final game at Mt Smart Stadium, Mannering hammered into a tackle on prop Shannon Boyd.
His body didn't feel the same again and he had to be replaced after 43 minutes, spending the rest of a tense match watching nervously.
"I was battling that first half and I guess once I cooled down at halftime, it made it worse," he said.
"The body's sore but I'm really proud of the team.
"That second half, it wasn't the perfect game but they dug deep."
Mannering is adamant the match won't be his last for the club he has served for 14 seasons.
The five-time Warriors player of the year will avoid contact in the week leading up to their first finals appearance in seven years.
Even though it was a typically grunty performance from the second-rower, he wants to finish on a more prominent note.
"My defence was pretty soft through most of that first half, I was trying to avoid contact as much as possible," he said.
"After that I was in all sorts. It's the hardest thing to watch. I was't paying too much attention to the details of the match."
The five-time Warriors player of the year was honoured both before and after the match on the field in front a near-capacity crowd.
The popular former Warriors and Kiwis captain was thrilled the stadium was near-capacity for post-match presentations.
"It blew me away, it was really special," he said.
The Warriors' only hope of a home play-off match next week is if St George Illawarra and Brisbane both lose this weekend, which will leave the Kiwi outfit sixth overall.
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