In a horror four-month period last year, Laidler suffered three dislocations of his left knee – each being the result of freak mishaps – and had two operations.
His season was over by the end of June after just four AFL games.
The usually enthusiastic defender admits that at times he cursed his wretched luck - "it was like I killed a black cat or something," he says - but he quickly snapped out of his self-pity when he thought about two people in his circle who were doing it infinitely tougher than he was.
Laidler's father Richard and teammate Sam Rowe both battled cancer last year, and their plights have had a profound effect on Laidler's attitude towards his own setbacks. They have saddened and inspired him, and provided him with a more balanced perspective on football and life.
The recovered Rowe's fight with testicular cancer has been well documented; lesser known is the more recent illness of Laidler senior.
The 52-year-old is a sporting identity in his own right, with quite a story to tell. He played VFA football for Coburg and district cricket for Carlton, and until recent times was heavily involved in sport in Japan, coaching the nation's Australian football and cricket teams.
A smoker, Richard Laidler was diagnosed with throat cancer in August, and had simultaneous treatments of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
"It hit Dad for six – and hit the family for six," Laidler told AFL.com.au.
"He couldn’t eat – he was getting fed through a tube in his nose – and he lost 30 kilos. That was a tough process.
"But he reckons he's flying now. Over the (Christmas) break we had my cousin's wedding down in Geelong and it was just good to see Dad have a beer and a smile on his face again.
"After seeing what my old man and Sammy Rowe have been through, I couldn’t dwell on my injury. It's nothing compared to what they've been through. There are always people out there suffering a lot more than yourself.
"It makes you just get on with it and make the most of your opportunities."
And he's confident he can have an immediate impact this season and continue on from where he left off as one of the Blues' most reliable backmen.
The 23-year-old is particularly buoyed by the medical feedback he has received.
Laidler's surgeon – the respected Dr Julian Feller – told him he hasn’t seen anyone recover so well from patella stabilisation surgery. In a rare procedure, Dr Feller reconstructed the medial patellar retinaculum by tying the femur and kneecap together with a length of hamstring.
"And it has stuck," Laidler enthuses. "Julian is over the moon – he says that structurally it's awesome – and all the scans are showing great news. And Mark Homewood, our rehab coordinator, is also rapt with it."
Laidler feels cherry-ripe and can’t wait to return to the field in the NAB Cup. He says he could play tomorrow. In fact, he would have been ready to play if the 2012 season had gone another three weeks.
Laidler continued to work himself hard during the off-season, taking every precaution possible to ensure he started pre-season in good shape. He was eased into the workload on the Arizona camp but it has been all systems go since training resumed in early January.
He has also added "three or four kilos" of muscle to better equip him to play on bigger opponents (presumably, the likes of Bulldogs big man Will Minson, whose size and strength contributed to Laidler's initial knee injury in last year's NAB Cup).
But Laidler, now weighing 91-92kgs, says he doesn't want to get so big that he loses what little pace he has. He is also thankful his knee issues haven’t cost him any speed.
Laidler has never been quick – and AFL clubs bluntly expressed their concerns when he was playing for TAC Cup club Calder Cannons – but he always seems to get into position on time. Significantly, his designated mentor at Geelong was Darren Milburn.
"'Dasher' wasn't the quickest bloke around either but he found ways around it, and he taught me a lot," he said.
"Growing up as a forward also gave me a fair idea about what a forward wants to do, so I just try to get in position before they do. And (at training) I tried to play on forwards like (Cameron) Mooney and (Tom) Hawkins and they'd tell me what they hate backmen doing.
"It'd be nice to be quicker, but I've found ways to cope."
At Carlton, Laidler says his development has been largely assisted by fellow defenders Michael Jamison and Nick Duigan and, increasingly, defensive coach Gavin Brown, the Collingwood great who is having a strong influence on how Laidler approaches one-on-one contests.
Given Laidler's importance to the Blues' defence and his growing leadership skills – former coach Brett Ratten regarded him as a backline "general" – it's amazing to consider that he has played just 25 AFL games in five seasons. (Originally a Geelong rookie, he played just two games in three years with the star-studded Cats).
However, Laidler's relative inexperience didn’t stop him from nominating himself – albeit unsuccessfully – for the Blues' leadership group. But he won’t change his approach. His oft-heard voice – delivering both encouragement and direction – is a big part of his being, and his value, as a player.
"I knew I didn’t play enough games last year to get into the leadership group … but I'm not going to let it stop me," he said. "If I can get the troops up around me, it helps me drive myself. And if we're all helping each other, the team is going to grow.
"We've got a strong leadership group and one day I'd like to be in it to help drive success, like it's been driven throughout the club's history."
Follow Ben Collins on Twitter at @AFL_BenCollins
