Kangaroos' coach Dean Laidley is bemused at the lack of respect being afforded to his much-improved side after the Roos' won their seventh game in 11 starts in 2007 by easily accounting for St Kilda at Telstra Dome on Sunday.

Incredibly the Roos went into the game as underdogs despite the fact they went into the match two games clear of the Saints on the ladder.

But aside from a brief rally by the Saints in the final term, the result was never in doubt as the Kangaroos won by 22 points on the back of four goals from Corey Jones and dominant defensive performances by Drew Petrie and Michael Firrito on St Kilda big guns Fraser Gehrig and Nick Riewoldt respectively.

With the Roos now a genuine chance of reaching the finals for only the third time in seven seasons, Laidley said he could not understand why no-one seemingly rated his team.

"We have got to keep working on it," he said of his team's battle to win respect.

"We have played four pre-season games and 11 home and away games this year and obviously there are people out there who think our actions aren't speaking louder than our words by the way the tipsters and the bookies went during the week (in tipping a St Kilda win)."

"But we know where we are at and we know we need to keep making our actions speak louder than our words."

Laidley said his players are responding to his coaching better now than at any stage during his five year tenure, which so far has yielded just one finals appearance in 2005.

The Roos' coach, who was visibly emotional during his post-match press conference after receiving news of a death in his family during Sunday's game, saved particular praise for the efforts of Petrie and Firrito.

"We have swung Drew Petrie backwards and forwards all year and he has played his role particularly well," Laidely said.

"At times in the first half today Gehrig looked as though he was dangerous but he (Petrie) always got a hand in there and Spud (Firrito) was terrific on one of the elite players in the game."

Firrito conceded height, weight and experience to the Saints' co-captain but kept him to just one goal.

"Michael's will to compete and his want of a contest is his number one asset," Laidley said of Firrito.

"That is his absolute strength and what's that saying about the size of the dog."