New Zealand blew Australia away in the first half of each of the last two Bledisloe season openers and have held the coveted trophy since 2003.
But the hard work of his Australian counterpart Michael Cheika in endeavouring to close the gap between the trans-Tasman rivals hasn't gone unnoticed by Hansen.
"I think they are a good side, they've improved a heck of a lot," Hansen said.
"They've done a lot of hard work on their running lines and their core set piece roles.
"Their scrum has got better, looking at it against Ireland.