Not even the wooden spoon and a 32-12 shellacking from Parramatta could wipe the smile off retiring Gold Coast Titans legend Preston Campbell's face.
The Titans were desperate to send off the former Dally M and Paul Broughton medallist a winner in his 267th and final NRL match on Saturday night - and could have avoided a bottom-place finish by doing so.
The build-up was emotional, but the outcome was depressing.
With nearly 20,000 people in the stands, all armed with 'Presto' masks and t-shirts, the stage was set for a night of celebration - but six Parramatta tries ruined his parade and rammed the wooden spoon down the Gold Coast's collective throats.
And that was just fine by Campbell.
"I'm okay with that," he said.
"It's not something you want on your resume as a footballer but I'm okay with it."
"I think the fact that I was very content and satisfied with the decision (to retire) meant it was like another game for me."
"I've got more great highlights compared to the low ones so that's what I have to look at."
"I'll use the wooden spoon to stir my porridge. I love porridge."
Campbell didn't even retreat back to the changerooms for hours after the final siren, instead remaining on the ground to sign autographs for adoring fans along the fence at Skilled Park.
"They're hanging around so I just think it's great that I can go around, sign some autographs and take some photos and just remember my last game," he said.
Clearly the hardest hit by what unfolded on Saturday night at Skilled Park wasn't Campbell at all - it was his teammates.
Luke Bailey - the man who selflessly passed on the captaincy to Presto after Scott Prince broke his arm - was on the verge of tears in his post-match press conference.
"He obviously deserves a lot better than how we finished," Bailey said.
"It's hard to look a bloke in the eye that's done so much for the game and to just toss up shit like that."
"We'll have a few beers, a few tears and get on with it."
"Sometimes you don't get what you deserve and those guys didn't get what they deserved tonight," coach John Cartwright added.
"There was effort there but in some areas, it just looked like we were getting in each other's way."
"You take the highs with the lows. We've had some highs - not as high as we'd like - and this is obviously the lowest of the lows."
"It didn't get any worse than tonight."