Adding to what he describes as "the worst year I've had in football", Harvey, veteran Adam Simpson and leadership group members Drew Petrie, Brady Rawlings and Daniel Pratt were advised of Laidley's resignation by chief of football Donald McDonald on Tuesday morning.
Harvey, sidelined with a dislocated elbow since round five, then delivered the news to the rest of the players on the track.
They were later addressed by Laidley, which was when Harvey said it started to hit home.
"I think he finished with, 'Go Roos' and that's when the boys would have thought, 'This is it. That's the last time you're going to hear that from the coach'," he told kangaroos.com.au. "It's very sad."
Harvey confirmed the players were aware that Laidley's fate would be decided by round 16 with a sub-committee formed to review all aspects of his position.
However, he said there was optimism the next month would unfold to see Laidley keep his job with very few signs the coach's commitment had waned.
"He hasn't had too much luck on his side this year," Harvey said. "We've had a lot of injuries to a lot of key players, so that's been really tough.
"Most of the time he's up and about. I pop into the office once a week and just say, 'How are you going? What do you want me to do with the boys this week?' The chats have been fine.
"He's probably felt it's his time and I think he said he couldn't take this group any further."
Laidley's departure comes in the middle of a season that has already seen him add six debutants to a young side and his football department expenditure increase by $750,000.
The construction of $16 million facilities at Arden Street, scheduled for completion soon after the start of 2010 pre-season training, progress with every day.
Harvey was disappointed Laidley would not experience what was now shaping as a legacy.
"It would be a shame that Dean's put this list together and has done so well over a long period of time that he won't be here to enjoy some of that success," he said.
"The footy department when he got here was spending hundreds of thousands less than every other club. From 2002 when he took over to where it is now, the improvement is amazing and that's purely due to the majority of the work that Dean's done.
"He's done a great job with what he's had and that's why it's sad to see him go with 10 games to go."
Harvey agreed that Laidley had been forced to deal with more off-field issues than most other coaches, particularly the club's near-move to the Gold Coast towards the end of 2007.
He said that Laidley had also been a good friend and would still turn to him for advice if he felt he needed to.
"With what he's done, you can see what he's about and he's a good North Melbourne person," Harvey said.
"He gave me the opportunity to be captain of this footy club, which is a huge honour, so I can't thank him enough."
