PERCEPTIONS can change quickly in football. And dramatically. Take North Melbourne, a club less than a year-and-a-half ago seemingly headed nowhere on the field, and off it, about 2000 kilometres north, to the Gold Coast.

It's famous history now that the Kangaroos fought off the threat of relocation and are firmly entrenched in their home city, with a burgeoning membership base. And thriving in purely football terms, too, about to record their second successive top-four finish.

Which brings us to their coach. Few perceptions about individuals in AFL football have changed as markedly as those surrounding Dean Laidley. And when it comes to coach-of-the-year status in 2008, he's going to take some topping.

It was three rounds, and three losses into last season, when Laidley was officially installed by betting agencies as a roaring favourite as next AFL coach to be sacked. He'd already had critics and a former teammate in Wayne Carey calling for his head by then.

Hasn't that tune changed? Even Laidley's coaching peers, let alone the critics, aren't too proud to sing his praises these days, particularly when it comes to the core business of match day and manipulating his team into a winning position.

"He's the hardest coach I've had to coach against this year," Carlton's Brett Ratten enthused after North had made short work of his Blues the weekend before last. "I'm not underestimating the other coaches, and maybe his team's in career-best form, but maybe he's in career-best form as well."

While the pure quality and talent of North's list is still routinely underestimated, Laidley's capacity to get the very best out of it and the 22 taking the field each week certainly isn't. Even in defeat.

The Roos were far from their best against Geelong last Sunday, yet still managed to keep within striking distance of the all-conquering Cats and cause his opposite number Mark Thompson some defensive headaches despite a miserable 36 inside-50s to Geelong's 64.

Laidley started with his best two ruckmen in Hamish McIntosh and David Hale up forward. Geelong didn't want to waste champion full-back Matthew Scarlett on Hale, leaving the job with young Harry Taylor. Eventually, it had no choice but to make the switch. By then, Hale had already kicked four of his eight goals.

Each week, Laidley makes his opposite number work even harder than usual. When it beat Hawthorn in round 13, North unpicked the renowned "Clarkson cluster" through hard running and quick ball movement, Lindsay Thomas "icing" the victory with two critical goals in the final quarter in which he twice sneaked behind the Hawthorn defence to take possession a good 30 metres in the clear.

In both wins against the Western Bulldogs, Laidley has had considerable success in tagging rebounding Bulldog defender Lindsay Gilbee, preventing the skilful defender from having his usual creative input while exploiting his weaknesses as a pure backman.

And the Roos have outsmarted Collingwood twice this season, last time, in round 16, dropping Daniel Wells behind the ball with great effect.

Five of North Melbourne's 12 victories this season have been by eight points or fewer. Laidley's nous has been a key in several. "I think there's definitely been games where Dean's tactics have got us over the line," says Roo captain Adam Simpson.

"This is his sixth year, and every season I can see we're getting better at following his instructions and he's getting better at refining them, so we're not overawed … I think we've got that balance now of understanding what the opposition do well and how we can stop opposing teams doing what they want to do, and at the same time keeping our basic game plan and structures right."

Laidley worked between 2000 and 2002 as an assistant to Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse. Former Magpie captain Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley rates Laidley the best opposition analyst he's come across.

"In that grand final year (2002), part of the reason we were so good was that we were able to pick the eyes out of the opposition game plan and take away what they wanted and make them deal with something they didn't want to face," Buckley says.

"That's something I see in North Melbourne now. Of course they've got their own game plan, but I think they're more chameleon-like than other sides and can adapt really well."

Former Melbourne coach Neale Daniher, who battled Laidley from an opposition coach's box for five years, agrees. "You're asking a fair bit of your team because you're asking the group to do different things depending on how to best break down the opposition, and that requires a receptive playing group," he says. "So it reflects pretty well on the coach if the group has got the confidence and trust in the game plan he wants to implement on a particular day."

Shortly before the start of last season, Robert Walls asked in The Age whether Laidley was "out of his depth as a senior coach and far better suited to being an assistant coach".

That stung. But Walls is more than happy to have reprised his opinion dramatically. "I think he's improved out of sight as a match-day coach and just as the general head of the footy club ," he says. "They play with real spirit, they're direct and he maximises the strength of his good players … He makes them think that everyone has a role to play, and that's great."

That's one dramatic change of perception. But not as great as that of the bookmakers. Laidley was a clear $2.25 favourite to get the chop after three rounds last year. A prospect about which you could write your own ticket these days.