Kiwi Bronson Harrison was sure his late grandfather was looking down on him during the biggest rugby league game of his career.
The second rower played his part in New Zealand's World Cup final victory in Brisbane on Saturday night and his one regret was that grandfather Joe Gwynne wasn't in the stands at Suncorp Stadium.
Gwynne, a former Kiwi selector and Auckland league stalwart, died in September, two months before Harrison, who had a close relationship with him, was recalled to the test arena.
"I would have loved for him to be here and experience this," he said.
"He would have been the proudest grandfather in the world."
Honouring the memory of Gwynne had been what drove Harrison during his remark able ride through the tournament.
"Every game I had out there he was in my thoughts," Harrison said.
"I wore a black armband and I still felt his support. I'm sure he was looking down."
The change in Harrison's international fortunes over the past month has been one of the stories of the World Cup.
Not originally selected for the Kiwi squad, he got a call-up when centre Iosia Soliola had to pull out through injury.
Harrison came off the bench against England in New Zealand's final pool game for his first test appearance since his debut in France in late 2005.
His performance got him the players' player-of-the-match award and coach Stephen Kearney elevated him to the starting line-up for the semifinal against the Lions, before retaining him there for the decider against Australia.
"It was unfortunate for Sia, but fortunate for me and I just had to go out there and take my opportunity," he said.
"The coaches gave me some self-belief and a bit of confidence and being around all the team has helped me out.
"I had a simple job out there. I just had to bring a little bit of enthusiasm and do what the coaches required of me."
Harrison, 23, is headed to Canberra next season, after five years at Wests Tigers where he didn't get as many chances as he would have like.
He played 79 NRL matches for the Tigers, but mostly off the bench.
He is hoping his World Cup experience will help him to push on and be able to get more minutes on the field with the Raiders.
