The tears said it all. How much the Canberra Raiders and Jack Wighton meant not just to coach Ricky Stuart, but Wighton as well.
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And the way the Green Machine got around Wighton when he scored a typically hard-running try in the sixth minute.
But it was after the match where the emotion could truly be seen.
Wighton broke down after a post-game interview and then Stuart did the same in his post-match press conference.
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It showed how hard Wighton's decision had been - to join South Sydney on a four-year deal - and how much his Raiders teammates were going to miss him.
Wighton was brilliant in a game that emphatically destroyed any concerns where his loyalties lay for the rest of the season.
He scored a great try, off the back of a nice Corey Horsburgh ball, and ran his guts out for 135 metres. And he was everywhere in defence - just ask Robert Jennings when he smashed him in the second half.
In a bizarre twist of fate, the two coaches who missed out on Wighton's signature for next year were going head-to-head in the Raiders' 31-30 win. And even the one who got him.
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett was in the away coach's box at Wagga Wagga on Saturday, while Souths coach Jason Demetriou was also there to watch his NSW Cup team play in the curtainraiser.
Stuart got emotional when he discussed how the team wanted to show some character.
He put a human face to the contract talk and took aim at the NRL transfer system that put so much pressure on everyone involved.
"I feel sorry for Jack. Jack's our mate. I've had a long association with him," Stuart said.
"He's been put in a difficult position. He had to make a decision and I'm OK with the decision.
"There's a lot of excuses going around about why Jack's leaving and it's all crap.
"Jack wants a bit of a change - he's been here a long time.
"All the innuendo and the criticism Jack's got - it's rotten. We need to make a better system to make it easier for teams, their teammates and the players making decisions.
"I couldn't be prouder of my playing group and Jack, because it took a big effort today. The way we started that game revealed the character in the joint."
It was as if a weight had been lifted off Wighton's shoulders as well.
The star five-eighth starting a TV interview with a big smile on his face, before he welled up talking about the week he'd had.
He'd made the tough choice to leave the club he grew up at to head to Souths for a rabbit change.
"It was huge. It's been a very tough week. A couple of massive decisions and that," Wighton told Fox Sports.
"To come to this with the brothers, it was big. Good boys, I love them all.
"That's what it's all about [memories]. Fourteen years [at the Raiders], finish the year strong and make memories and enjoy it."
Stuart pointed to Wighton's efforts as proof to exactly what the Raiders and Wighton meant to each other.
"Don't you think that performance puts an end to that story?" he said.
"We all love him. If we weren't hurt by it, him going, we don't care about him, we don't care about the club.
"Am I pissed off he's going? Yeah I am, but that's his decision."
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David Polkinghorne
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
