EMERGING Gold Coast ruckman Tom Nicholls can see the wheel turning after a nightmare season for the side and credits honesty and peer evaluation as the key to building the club's much criticised culture. 

Nicholls, who is enjoying his best season at AFL level spoke about the work the club is doing away from the public eye to turn things around. 

"We've been doing massive work behind the scenes with (player development manager) Simon Fletcher and all the boys," Nicholls told Crocmedia's Sportsday program on Wednesday. 

"We've had a few guest speakers who have been awesome and we're just really working on our culture or brotherhood as we call it and that's based around setting strong standards at the footy club going forward. 

"We are really confident that will serve us well in the long run." 

The club has undertaken a series of peer evaluation sessions and Nicholls feels even champion skipper Gary Ablett has improved.

"Off-field he's probably the one who's grown the most, he and Tom Lynch I reckon," Nicholls said.

"We know he's been challenged in the media but more so internally with us.

"We've had one-on-one peer assessments and addressed the things with Gaz that he needed to work on and to his credit he's done it in spades and it's just unfortunate he can't be out there on the park with us but he'll be back. 

"He's got an awesome attitude towards everything in life so with his injury he's been really good." 

Nicholls, who has played just 29 games, said giving a peer appraisal to Ablett was a daunting experience. 

"You're sitting there thinking this guy has won Brownlows and premierships, who the hell am I to nit-pick at him," he said.

"But that's part of our brotherhood now, it doesn't matter who it is we are all capable of challenging each other and we saw a bit of that on Saturday night with Steven May and Tom Lynch which was awesome."

Despite a season that has netted just three victories, Nicholls feels the group has seen some positives emerge on-field with the development of some young talent.

"We've been lucky with our first-year players in Touk Miller and Adam Saad but we've also uncovered Henry Schade who has debuted this year, also Jesse Lonergan has had a massive rise and Aaron Hall also so it should give us some depth going forward and hold those guns to account when they come back in," he said.