Les Kiss has credited predecessor Brad Thorn for the basis of the Queensland Reds' dramatic turnaround that's seen them become Super Rugby Pacific's most disciplined team.
The Reds were their own worst enemies in the previous two campaigns, committing more penalties than any other team in 2022 and setting the early pace last season too.
Star flanker Fraser McReight spoke for all of his teammates 12 months ago when he said most infractions "were just stupid and totally in our control".
Four rounds into Kiss's reign and the second-placed Reds (3-1) have effectively halved their penalty count, conceding a league-best 7.5 penalties per game.
That's compared to Saturday's opponents the Western Force, who are conceding 14.5 in an 0-4 start.
"There was a turnaround late in the season that was quite evident," Kiss said.
"We've built on top of that; we're aligned, we see something the same way, there's less ambiguity.
"We have clarity on those areas that are penalised the most and hats off to the boys they've just bought into it.
"You're going to be on the back foot at times and we've had the Chiefs, 'Canes and Rebels enjoy purple patches and we've been disciplined at those times."
The Reds have won six of their last seven games against the Force, including the last three.
"Complacency's always something to be wary of, can you inoculate against it? I'm not sure," Kiss said.
"But the Force beat us here (in pre-season) and they've been playing well, we have to be wary."
The Reds (15 points) can jump the Hurricanes (17 points) with a big win in Perth, foreign ground at this point in the season for a side that only scraped into the top-eight of a 12-team competition last year.
"There's nothing really that's been done yet," Kiss qualified.
"The rest of us (other than the Hurricanes and third-placed Chiefs) are trying to find out how we survive in this rarefied air.
"(The ladder's) going to move significantly; we're trying to make sure this game is not a banana skin, that's for sure."
