For us Konrad Hurrell fans, watching Koni steam into helpless Dragons forwards on Friday night was like stumbling across a Master Ball in Pokemon Blue. In his first full game starting at centre for Gold Coast, Koni was at his battering-ram best while his Titans showed that they could make a few waves, possibly even make a deep run into the NRL Finals.

Koni lined up alongside Anthony Don - I thought that Nene MacDonald would line up on that right flank but MacDonald slid over to the left. We can expect Koni to stay on that right edge as that's his preferred side of the field and it gives the Titans a dynamic threat on either side of the field. Koni's great effort came in conjunction with Josh Hoffman dominating at left centre, giving the Titans a strong ball-carrying presence on either edge; Hoffman's all footwork and speed while ... well, we know what Koni does.

It wasn't what Koni did out on the edge though that caught my eye, it's what he did in the middle of the park and without throwing too much shade at the Warriors, this shows just how good a coach Neil Henry is (compared to Andrew McFadden hehe). As I alluded to last week, Koni has been given a vote of faith and he's been given a clear job to do while at the Warriors he was McFadden's 'project' despite never being given a defined job to do. Henry knows that Koni has a unique gift, he's got speed and crazy power so that speed is highly beneficial out on the edge, yet it's also great when Koni comes into the middle and takes a carry mid-set.

Playing Koni through the middle and expecting him to solely take hit ups into forwards isn't quite the same as Koni hanging out on the edge and then taking the odd hit up. Most of Koni's hit ups in the middle came with a short-ball from the dummy half, with Koni's speed allowing him to either beat the markers and get in-behind the ruck or allowing him to make metres and get a quick play-the-ball by steaming over the top of a marker.

Note how close to the ruck Koni carries the footy...

He's making metres and he's making those defenders around the ruck make yet another tough tackle. When you also consider that Koni's hit ups follow a run by Hoffman and MacDonald ... and are then followed by a run by Agnatius Paasi, Greg Bird, Ryan James or Zeb Taia, suddenly the Titans can work opponents like the Dragons over through the middle.

Koni played 80 minutes and had 16 carries, 164m, a try assist, 2 tackle busts, 12 tackles, 1 offload and a line break. He also missed 4 tackles so the haters will highlight that as typical Koni, however Chris McQueen who defends inside Koni on that right edge also missed 5 tackles so it wasn't solely Koni's fault.

I did peep that Koni and Don love to rush in, which is great. First of all it's great that they both rush in off their edge and got in the face of the Dragons attackers, then it's a great tactic for Koni as he doesn't have to make as many decisions, nor is he left sliding or back-pedalling. While this could result in a long pass over the top or a kick in behind, it's good that Koni has been given a clear plan on how to defend the tricky attacking plays that dominate the NRL - many defenders are made to look foolish.

This week the Titans face the Eels at home on Saturday night and Koni will likely face Brad Takairangi. I guess Koni could count himself fairly lucky that Michael Jennings agravated a hamstring niggle last week as he's usually lining up at left centre for Parramatta and will be replaced by Takairangi. It would have been great to see Koni go up against Jennings as it would have given us a good gauge of his defence, it would (could still happen) have also been cool to see Koni go up against Manu Ma'u who is now playing right centre for Parramatta.
Ma'u or Koni could still slide over to the left for whatever reason come kick-off and this would give us a Tongan toko battle of extreme brutality #PrayerHandEmoji.

I enjoyed watching the Titans play before Koni arrived on the GC and now with Koni being a Titan, they are one of my must-watch NRL teams. A win against the Dragons obviously helped this out, but the Titans genuinely look like a team that enjoy playing together and everyone in the team appears to enjoy having Koni on board as a Titan.

Perhaps of greater importance is that Koni's style is perfectly suited to the pieces that the Titans already have in place, which fits the successful mould in the NRL this season. I still think they are limited in their strike-power, however they have forwards and backs who are all either big enough to roll down field, or they are quick enough to make defenders miss and keep that roll going.

This week they lose Greg Bird and the toko Agnatius Paasi starts at lock, which means they don't lose too much power there. Nathaniel Peteru comes on to the bench and he's a huge body, ensuring plenty of oomph off the bench. Expect to see Koni get in the middle and mix it up, plus he's also got Ash Taylor and Tyrone Roberts in the halves who are in great form which means that Koni can expect early ball - especially hitting a short pass, running at either Clint Gutherson or Jeff Robson.