“We had 37-38 scoring shots and had it in there (forward 50m) 60 times,” he said after the Roos accounted for Melbourne by 48 points.
“I thought we kicked poorly and had five forced behinds, yet we pride ourselves on not having forced behinds.
“They were able to force it through and get the ball back, but gee, you ask any coach in the competition whether they’d like 38 scoring shots, I think they’d take it.”
Laidley was buoyed by his side’s persistence, despite kicking seven points before registering their first goal.
“I thought there were some positive signs,” he said. “Jesse Smith coming back into the side, Thommo (Nathan Thompson) bobbing up again and we had Thommo and Aaron (Edwards) and CJ (Corey Jones) as multiple goal-kickers.
“I just think Matty (Campbell) and Lindsay Thomas are growing by the week. Look, (first-gamer) Benny Ross was a little bit out of it, but what he did do was allow us to rotate the other two off the bench which kept their pressure up and their involvement".
Defender Josh Gibson was carried from the field by trainers during the third quarter with what was initially feared as an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his left knee.
But Laidley said Gibson has suffered only cartilage damage and, while he would require arthroscope surgery to repair the damage, was likely to miss between three to five weeks rather than the rest of the season.
Laidley also said ruckman David Hale, who missed against Melbourne because of a quad injury, was likely to be available for next Saturday night’s match against Collingwood.
Despite a poor crowd of 23,427, Laidley said he was pleased that a majority of Roos supporters had witnessed the match.
“I know we didn’t get the crowd we would have liked, but from where I was sitting, it looked like there was a majority of blue and white. And so I’m pleased that our supporters did show up for our boys and I hope they enjoyed the game.”
