Ahead of his NRL All Stars appearance, the homie Konrad Hurrell sat down with Denan Kemp and talked a bunch of shit. Before we get on to What I Learned, we need to give Denan Kemp's Locker Room podcast a massive plug for first of all getting Koni on for the interview and for all the other great interviews that are served up on a weekly basis. These interviews are immensely better than anything silly Australian media serves up and are well worth the watch/listen, so click through from Koni's video below and subscribe on Youtube or go find the Locker Room on Twitter and Facebook, I'm sure you can figure it out.

All the other interviews were great, but we love Koni and here at the Niche Cache and I've followed Koni since his 1st XV rugby days at Auckland Grammar and then throughout his rugby league career. I love Koni so much, that I feel like I can call him Koni.

That appreciation for Koni leads me to the main thing I learned from hearing Koni speak at length about his journey to this point in his career. This isn't a bloke who grew up playing both rugby and rugby league, interchanging between the two each weekend, nor was Koni given the luxury of time in rugby league to truly figure things out. Koni went from 1st XV rugby to the Junior Warriors and then straight into the NRL, within the space of a few years thanks to his unique power and ability as a footy player.

This, combined with the swift but drastic change in life situations that Koni experienced would have been an absolute whirlwind. Koni said that he got his first cellphone when he moved to Aoteroa which was also his first major expedition away from Tonga, so imagine all the other things Koni was experiencing for the first time? Koni himself points out that the food was one of the best new things about Aotearoa, also however one of the hardest things to adapt to.

I gained a greater appreciation for the change and how difficult it would have been to adapt to this whirlwind. Consider that Koni would often get caught leaving his side of the field in his early league-playing days as a centre, moving across the field like a union centre would, something that we would take for granted or assume wouldn't happen. Broaden that sort of change to all facets of his life and I'm happy to give Koni a pat on the back for making it this far.

Some of these situations or minor tweaks would have been made quickly by Koni, the food, intake of food and what food to eat has been the most difficult change to make. Again, something or knowledge that we take for granted that for others isn't so easy. Koni grew up eating a selection of carbs (bread, taro etc) which are either cheap or they can be grown and luxuries like meat weren't staples of his diet. Welcome to Aotearoa where we have meats and fast food (far too much, it's embarrassing) in abundance.

These are all lessons that needed to be learned, some were learned quickly, others took time.
Lessons simply had to be learned for Koni to have the sort of NRL career that we all hope he'll have.

There's sympathy, empathy and a bias towards Koni that I have. I can't however ignore the fact that it's up to the individual to take responsibility to ensure that they fulfill their potential.

And that's what excites me about Koni, 2016 Koni. We've seen Koni in the NRL NInes, All Stars game and now we've heard him speak, which only leaves me excited because I'm seeing and hearing all the right things. Talks with important people in his life - whether they're his manager, mum, dad and other family members or people like Jim Doyle at the Warriors - appear to have hit the spot with Koni, who himself knows where he has been lagging behind and what he needs to do to get to where we and he wants to be.

Whether it's his diet, what he does in the 'off-season' (Koni actually thought it was time 'off') or whether it's not taking a multi-year deal for granted which resulted in Koni falling back into a comfort zone after he had earned 1-year deals. Koni appears to know where he's fallen short, which is the first promising sign; stage one is always admitting or acknowledging where that there is an issue ya know.

Koni's enthusiasm is nothing less than contagious.

Kemp asks Koni what life was like back in Tonga, with Kemp's perspective being that life in Tonga is very hard with little money or opportunity on offer. Koni simply responded with an extremely refreshing answer in which he pointed out that money wasn't the be all or end all in Tonga, that you don't need lots of money to survive or to be happy.

You live off the land and live with a large family. Mother Natures provides you with what you need to survive and your family provides you with love and entertainment.

I think that's something we can all apply to our own lives.

This interview was done before the All Stars game and to hear Koni talk about the NRL's superstars gave me a surprising case of goosebumps. Koni was the most starstruck when he met Cameron Smith, a player who at the opposite end of the spectrum of NRL players to Koni and this kinda gave me the feeling that all is good with Koni because he looks up to Smith, you could a lot worse than look up to Cam Smith.

My love for Koni is trumped by my love for Manu Vatuvei and I don't think there's a more influential player in Koni's life than Vatuvei. Both are Tongans, both adopt a similar style thanks to their appreciation for a fellow Tonga Jonah Lomu and Vatuvei has come from Otara to be an NRL star himself, it's a match made in heaven. Some would say that Vatuvei hasn't done a very good job of guiding Hurrell through his NRL career, to which I'd say that Hurrell is his own man and Vatuvei can't babysit Hurrell.

And that I'm super positive about Hurrell right now and I'm fairly confident that Vatuvei has a major part to play in where Hurrell is right now.

Koni also touches on his international future which is a conundrum that is unique to rugby and rugby league here in Aotearoa. With so many Islanders moving to Aotearoa, many of our best league and union players face a tough decision as they must decide whether to represent their homeland or Aotearoa. In theory, this shouldn't be a hard decision but as Koni says, he grew up wanted to play for the All Blacks while living in Tonga and when you throw in the fact that you earn a lot more money playing for the All Blacks or Kiwis than you do for Tonga or Samoa, you've got a tricky choice to make.

It was encouraging to hear Koni speak of his desire to play for Tonga through to the next World Cup. I believe that Koni could push himself into rare-air by opting to represent Tonga for a substantial period of time as he would be able to inspire youngsters and a nation alike, with the opportunity to become a leader and an influential figure within the Tongan community there for him.

As Koni says though, you never know the circumstances surrounding each player and to begrudge someone for representing the Kiwis and provide more for their family shouldn't be seen as a negative.

There are copious amounts of Koni gems in this interview, hilarious stories told by Koni that you will have to watch in the video.

The last thought I'll leave you with is how well Koni spoke.

We all know Islanders who have been in Aotearoa for over a decade who still provide us with many giggles thanks to their FOB-ness. Koni came to Aotearoa in his late-teen years and was arguably the freshest of them all, which was great, funny and simply a fact of life. Hearing Koni speak so well, confidently and provide great insight into his life and the NRL for almost an hour would have simply have been unthinkable a year or two ago.

I can't help but be proud of how far Koni has come as a person since I've been following his journey. I couldn't stop smiling throughout this interview, whether it was because Koni was telling great stories, making me laugh or keeping it real. Koni appears to be in a great space personally and I'm fizzing with excitement to see how this impacts Koni as he looks to establish himself as a starting and long-term NRL centre.