Speaking at the club's season launch at Eureka Tower on Wednesday night, Laidley said his side had been turned upside down in its four pre-season games and the results would be unveiled in the coming weeks.
"We're really going to try things [and] we're not going to die wondering," Laidley said. "We had some issues that we had to fix and our midfield was one of them."
Michael Firrito, Leigh Harding, Josh Gibson and Gavin Urquhart have all spent time up the field in the NAB Cup and Challenge matches, while several players have done enough to be considered for a debut in the season opener.
Draftees Jack Ziebell and Liam Anthony, defenders Nathan Grima and Levi Greenwood and forward Ben Warren are all in the mix.
"Hopefully there'll be at least one or two next week who play their first game for the North Melbourne Football Club," Laidley said. "I think that shows you the effort and the process that's gone into our recruiting over the last few years.
"The amount of first-year [players] that have come in and made an impact and continue to make an impact has been outstanding. It's been a pleasure to be able to coach those young guys."
Laidley also made mention of backman Scott Thompson, who played six games in 2008 and has powered through his preparations.
He added that competition for spots was a healthy challenge for the coaches, but a number of players were bound to be unlucky.
"We've played 26 or 27 players in the [pre-season] games and unfortunately next week against the Demons we can only play 22," he said.
"There are going to be some guys who are really stiff – they're going to miss out.
"We need to make sure they keep their form up if they have to go back to the VFL for a week or two [and for] some guys who have been in the side and been out of the side, they keep training really well.
"There were a couple of really good performances today (Wednesday) out on the track and I thought, 'Gee, they really want to press for a spot for round one'. From a coach's point-of-view, we probably couldn't be in a better position."
Jesse Smith (hamstring) and Matt Riggio (shin stress reaction) are the only two players who can't be considered.
The clash with the Demons will also mark Brent Harvey's first official game as captain since succeeding Adam Simpson in November.
His senior leadership group includes Drew Petrie, Brady Rawlings and Daniel Pratt, but Laidley said the emergence of the next tier – Daniel Wells, David Hale, Corey Jones, Sam Power, Harding and Firrito – was important too.
"We need those guys to perform now," he said. "They're not babies and they've had enough time to develop, so we really expect them to be able to carry the can – the responsibility of making sure we perform week in, week out.
"A lot of focus is on round one but it is the start of a marathon."
