KANGAROO Leigh Harding's return from a knee reconstruction has drawn praise from his coach Dean Laidley, who believes his effort to again play at the highest level has been "unbelievable".

Laidley spoke highly of Harding after his defender kicked three goals for the second match in a row.

"I'm not surprised by what he's doing from the change of position, but from a physical perspective, to do what he's doing, coming off a knee reconstruction is unbelievable," Laidley said.

"He's probably become a genuine midfielder now, playing on some of the best midfielders in the competition, so it's a full credit to him. He's been a desperate man and he wants to continue his career, which is great.

"Offensively and defensively – maybe he's always had that offensive streak in him – but his mindset and the change in him, personally, has been super."

Meanwhile, Laidley said forward Aaron Edwards, who missed 12 rounds, before returning to the VFL seconds last weekend, was still a realistic chance of returning to the senior side before the end of the year. Other players Laidley said could come back into the side were Hamish McIntosh, Nathan Thompson and Todd Goldstein.

"[Leigh] Brown played his role today, [Drew] Petrie and David Hale had a super game and Corey Jones had a really neat workmanlike-game and 'Thommo' missed and then there's Aaron and Hamish and 'Goldy', but you can't play them all.

"So if you're in one of those positions at the moment, you've really got to perform."