"We needed a response," he said after they had been up by 20 points only to see the lead slip and the Chiefs break their losing streak to win.
"It was nice to translate what we put in during the week. It wasn't pretty in the end but we're just happy with the way we closed it out," he said.
While he had posted a record points haul in the Aotearoa competition, he was happiest getting off the duck egg on the scoreboard.
"It's so hard to play down here to play them, high tempo and our forwards responded well, especially after last week and I was rapt," he said.
Success was based on backing their system, trusting each other and reducing their penalty count.
He thought the last time he had scored three tries in a game might have been at Under-8 level, and while it was nice to get them, he was happier having contributed to the team's win.
He was working well with replacement first five-eighths Orbyn Leger, who was doing a good job in the face of the injury problems the Hurricanes had suffered in the position.
"Orbs has been a breath of fresh air. He is a quiet, confident young boy, and he played well.
"Hopefully we can keep building on this performance, it's just a start for us," he said.
Hurricanes coach Jason Holland said Barrett was performing well at fullback while also working with first five-eighths Orbyn Leger. They were running the game together while returning hooker Dane Coles' 45 minutes of effort was an example of what he brings to the side.
He was happy for his crew as they had been working hard, and nothing had been too wrong, but they hadn't been getting the result.
"I'm just happy the boys get a bit of reward for their effort," he said.
"We gave them lots of opportunity to attack in that first half, turning the ball over and kicking a little bit too much aimlessly which put us under pressure but some of the effort when we were defending, and down to 14, was pretty special," he said.