Off-field improvements allow Gold Coast Titans' game to shine Coach John Cartwright is in high spirits. NOBODY can agree on which trigger has ignited the Titans. There have been too many to single out one. But the players and coaches all know there is a different feeling inside Titans headquarters. I feel it walking around the club. Every day there is a renewed sense of purpose," chief executive David May said. You tend to see dramatic change in teams when you get a dramatic change in roster. We haven't got a dramatically different roster but you're seeing a dramatically different performance on the field. That comes from a change within the team. It comes from spirit and attitude. May believes there are three keys to the Titans' impressive 3-1 start to the season. The players are motivated by missing last year's finals series; there is a new leadership structure with co-captains that has brought out maturity in the entire squad; and the players know the club's future is secure. Co-captain Greg Bird agreed the club's off-field improvement had helped the players focus on their tasks on the field. "Although it was said a million times last year that the playing group was focused on playing and not too much else that was going on, it always was there in the back of your mind," Bird said. That's a thing of the past. The Titans also look different on the field, fitter, faster, stronger and much more committed to each other in defence. The Titans have halved their points conceded to now be ranked No.2 in the NRL. They have reduced their missed tackle count by 25 per cent. They have almost doubled their dummy-half running and lead the NRL for metres gained, up by more than 100m a game over their 2012 figure. "There's no great difference, no magic cure, no magic wand," coach John Cartwright said. Some things have been going our way and with each win comes a bit more confidence. It's the combination of a group working very hard. The harder you work you tend to get a bounce go your way. Some say a post-season trip last year to the United States played a crucial role. It was the first time in club history almost the entire squad holidayed as one and they returned with closer bonds than before. When they were confronted with excruciating pre-season training, such as a 3km hill run in the middle of summer in the Gold Coast hinterland which they had to complete three times consecutively, they did so with the support of their mates. "Just to get up there once was a struggle, let alone do it another couple of times," forward Ben Ridge said. If you didn't have your teammates around you, you wouldn't even bother doing it. That is what's so special. Defence is very much an attitude. If your attitude is right you will go out and do your best for the team. At the moment we've set a standard. We will just try to keep that standard.