Five-eighth Shaun Johnson feels the Kiwis' 34-14 win over Mate Ma'a Tonga in Auckland will go a long way towards erasing the painful memories of 2017, and restoring some pride in the New Zealand jersey.
The Kiwis suffered a shock 28-22 defeat to Tonga at the 2017 World Cup, which sent shockwaves through the rugby league world, and the pain of that defeat was on the players' minds before the match.
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While only six Kiwis who played on Saturday were present for that clash 588 days ago, all the talk in the lead-up to Saturday's match was about redemption - and that is precisely what Michael Maguire's men got.
Johnson was one of those six players from the match in Hamilton 18 months ago, and at the time, the 28-year-old was on the end of plenty of criticism.
But the Sharks pivot ensured there would be none time around, doing his best to silence the strong Tongan presence in the stands with a brace of tries in the win.
Johnson knew he had a point to prove.
"I was really nervous about playing this game because I have still got memories of what happened in the World Cup. It wasn't a grudge match, but in my mind, we needed this. This was a big game.
"Thinking back to 2017 and what a lot of us had to go through and how disappointed a lot of us were, people will never understand what was going on behind the scenes and how we felt after we let our nation down.
"We copped a lot, and deservedly too, so to be a part of trying to put this jersey in a better place since then and having the leadership from Madge [Maguire], Dallin [Watene Zelezniak] and the senior players really driving that is pretty special.
"The fact that we can sit in the sheds, listen to music, talk, have a beer, connect and talk about the game, it's something that I'm absorbing.
"I'm probably the last one to have a shower because I just want to soak it all in. I'm pretty happy right now."
The match was Johnson's first game back at Mt Smart Stadium since being released by the Warriors last year.
And unless the Warriors host the Sharks in the NRL playoffs, it will be Johnson's only visit to the place he used to call home in 2018.
"It's a bit weird if I'm being honest, a part of me still feels like this is home. I still watch the Warriors every week, I still love this place.
"But coming back in a Kiwis capacity, knowing that I'm like a lot of the other boys that live in Sydney, coming back into camp, is how I approached it.
"Whether it's Mt Smart, anywhere in the world, being in this environment means the world to all of us - and hopefully people saw that tonight."
Johnson also paid tribute to his teammates for the way they muscled against the big Tongan pack.
"I thought our forwards did a great job giving us a platform, Benji [Marshall] on ball controlling things and getting me a bit wider and we were able to ice a couple of opportunities. Collectively we had a great week, and it showed out there."
Johnson was also happy to credit Roger Tuivasa-Sheck for scoring the Kiwis' fourth try. Initially Johnson was awarded the try, which gave him a hat-trick, but it was later confirmed that Tuivasa-Sheck won the race to the ball.
"I lost paper-scissors-rock to Rog, it's all his," said Johnson.
"I actually grounded his leg. Rog got the ball. [It's] Roger's try for sure."
The Kiwis will be back in action after the NRL season with a test against the Kangaroos in Wollongong on October 25, which will be followed up with two tests against Great Britain in Auckland and Christchurch in November.
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