When Koni signed with Gold Coast, I thought the stars were aligning in his favour and in favour of the Titans as well. The Titans needed Koni and Koni needed the Titans, what has followed since Koni hit the GC has been super positive and this week everything went up a notch as the Titans secured the services of Jarryd Hayne. Up to this point, I've kinda been amazed at how well those stars have aligned and to be honest, with how well this week has gone already, I had to check my pulse, pinch myself and make sure this isn't a dream.

On Monday, Koni and his Titans gave a great account of themselves against Cronulla and snapped the Sharks' win-streak by grabbing an 18-18 draw. For those who haven't seen the Titans much this season, they may have been surprised by what they dished up against a rugged Sharks side but this is exactly how the Titans have been battling this season. 

There wasn't a whole lot different in how Koni was used, which isn't a shock as he's settling into a pattern and Neil Henry has done a great job of keeping everything simple with Koni. Koni either gets early footy out wide where he's a nightmare to defend against, or he drifts into the middle of the field and charges on to a short ball, hitting it straight up into a waiting pack of forwards. Against Cronulla, I also noted that Koni was used to take the first hit up off a scrum which kinda epitomizes how Koni's strengths are used; run hard, run straight.

Over the past three weeks, Koni has averaged over 10m per-carry with ease and his numbers are pretty staggering - horrible reading if you're a Warriors fan/hater.

Round 19 vs Dragons: 15 carries, 174m, 1 line break, 1 offload.
Round 20 vs Eels: 16 carries, 192m, 2 line breaks, 1 offload.
Round 21 vs Sharks: 16 carries, 192m, 1 line break, 3 offloads.

The involvement of Koni stands out like a sore thumb as he's consistently carting the ball up, pretty much every set and when you've got his power, you're going to be making big metres with all those carries. Also interesting is that Koni only missed a single tackle against Cronulla which is an improved effort on the previous games and of the four centres in this game, Koni was the only centre to miss less than 2 tackles. This came with Koni making 8 more tackles than Josh Hoffman on the other side of the field as Cronulla clearly targeted Koni.

Yesterday, Gold Coast signed Jarryd Hayne which is obviously a huge grab for the Titans. These aren't the Hayne Plane Files, nah, these are the Koni Files so how does Hayne's signing impact Koni? 

Without seeing the Titans play with Hayne in their line up yet, I'm thinking that it will just be the extra weapon that will help Koni out immensely. At the moment, Koni's use is somewhat predictable as opposition teams can see that Koni is loading up to take a hit up and then get three big lads in front of him and put him on his back. Having Hayne lurking will keep the defenders intrigued, allowing Koni to sneak in under the radar so to speak.

Hayne is a near-certainty to be a better passer than David Mead, who has been playing fullback for much of the season. Mead is solid, just a solid NRL outside back while Hayne is one of the best fullbacks we've ever seen and the best fullbacks do their work through the middle and out on the edges. Hayne could benefit from Koni's quick play-the-balls and offloads, however I'm most excited for when Hayne drifts over to the right edge.

Koni will have far more opportunities with Hayne doing some ball-playing and running the footy on that right edge. Hayne is a certified threat and will demand attention when he runs, which could open things up for Koni while I also think that over time we will see Hayne and Koni combine, with Hayne putting Koni into space. Coach Henry has already designed plays specifically for Koni, so imagine the sort of plays they could run with Hayne, Koni and Ash Taylor.

On top of all of that, Koni faces his old team this week and if I'm frothing with excitement for this game, I suspect Koni is a caged animal right now. It could go either way as Koni could do what he's been doing for the past few weeks and look great, or he could be a bit too excited and let the moment get to him. I dunno, I hope Koni just sticks to his job and if he does that then he'll be showing the Warriors what they are missing.

Koni plays on the right, which means that he'll face off against the toko Solomone Kata. 

Nothing more needs to be said.