After losing to North Queensland last week, Gold Coast were forced to sit back and wait for Wests Tigers to play Canberra and hope that the Tigers got the same treatment that the Titans got up in Townsville. Despite being out-classed by the Cowboys, perhaps showing a few limitations in their game, the Titans live to fight another week with the Tigers crashing out and that can only mean one thing folks; Koni's playing Finals footy!

Koni did his best to help the Titans, although the Cowboys ran rampant through the middle of the field as they tend to do and there wasn't a whole lot that Koni could to do in that regard. In a typically busy and blockbusting display, Koni had 16 carries for 217m with a tackle bust and 2 offloads, highlighted by a long-range try that saw Koni show off his speed and a cheeky little roadwork impersonation #StopGo.

(Low key peep the chase of the tokoJason Taumalolo though)

With the Titans to face Brisbane tomorrow night, it was great to see Koni record his second game in a row with no missed tackles. Up until last week's loss to Penrith, Koni had missed tackle totals of 1, 5, 4, 0, 3, 1, 3 which wasn't so bad as his work with the footy had absorbed those missed tackles. Two games straight in which Koni hasn't missed a tackle is a fantastic sign ahead of the Finals and what's more impressive (or a sign of how brutal the Cowboys are up the guts) is that Gold Coast missed 27 tackles in total and Koni missed none while the Titans forwards combined to miss 17.

No errors or penalties against Koni either.

Koni will line up against young Broncos centre Tom Opacic who has settled into the NRL quickly and efficiently. Jack Reed recently announced his retirement from the NRL after not featuring a whole lot this season on that left edge and that spot is now Opacic's for the taking. Opacic is an all-round solid centre who is big enough, quick enough and skillful enough to hold his own but he lacks the sort of x-factor that Koni or James Roberts has on the right edge for Brisbane. In that regard, it's good that Koni won't have to contend with the pace of Roberts as that would have been a tough task for Koni.

Opacic won't be an easy match up though, especially not with Sam Thaiday lurking on that left edge as well as Anthony Milford and Darius Boyd. I reckon we'll see Thaiday run plenty of footy at Koni, definitely at Ash Taylor who will be defending inside Koni and it will be up to Koni and Chris McQueen to help Taylor out. Do keep an eye on when Thaiday gets the footy though as Koni will likely struggle to handle Thaiday's power and that defensive work in trying to bring Thaiday down, will put Koni under fatigue.

Thaiday will also play a crucial role in defending Koni, as Koni often takes his carries further in field and it'll be Thaiday's job to whack Koni, slowing him down. Milford and Opacic are prime targets for Koni to run at, which means Thaiday will play the role of bodyguard and this should make for some hefty collisions out on that edge.

This game will be extremely interesting in the context of the Koni files because the power that Koni offers when carting the ball up in the middle third, will help Gold Coast greatly in not only rolling down the field but also in possibly dominating the Broncos through the middle. Koni's speed and subsequent power has enable the Titans to get down the field fairly easily, with Koni's carries following or followed by the likes of Ryan James, Greg Bird, Zeb Taia, Chris McQueen, Leivaha Pulu and Agnatius Paasi. The Titans have a big, powerful forward pack that could really trouble the Broncos and Koni will lead that charge; any success the Titans have in this game will likely feature a whole lot of Koni.

In saying that, we want to see Koni get the footy out wide where he can go one-on-one with Opacic. We haven't seen a whole lot of early ball with time and space in front of Koni because the Titans backline moves just aren't free-flowing and they rarely actually hit their edges as they don't attack with the sort of shape that we see from Cronulla, Brisbane, Cowboys and Storm. This has coincided with the arrival of Jarryd Hayne and many people love to highlight the Titans mediocre attack with Hayne's presence, fair play but we could also see the Titans unleash a few tricks in Finals footy.

Just give Koni some early ball, that's all I ask.

The joy in following Koni and the Titans is that Koni's still a gun for the Titans even without getting early ball, such is his work through the middle. And that folks, is why we as Konrad Hurrell fans should be celebrating. Sure, the Titans might struggle against the Broncos, however Koni is playing Finals footy and Koni has been one of the Titans best players for four or five weeks now.

Coming from where we've come from (being Konrad Hurrell fans), simply seeing Koni playing great footy for Gold Coast was good enough for me. Seeing Koni quickly establish himself as a certified weapon for Gold Coast, part of their big-three (Bird x Hayne x Koni) had me fizzing each week to see what Koni dished up. Now Koni is playing at Suncorp Stadium on a Friday night in Finals footy and the opportunity is there for Koni to do all of this, on a far bigger stage. Rest assured folks - if Gold Coast win, Koni would have stepped and played a key role in their success.