By his own admission, Laidler “took one for the team” in the fourth round, remembering that Andrew Carrazzo had also buckled with injury not long after the first bounce.
“We were both in the medical room at the same time and they were about to rule me out, but when it became clear that Andy wasn’t going to make it back with the snapped shoulder blade the decision was made for me to go back on and I got through the game,” Laidler explained.
“It (the decision) came about through me, the doctor and the physiotherapist who assured that with the knee properly strapped there’d be no problem me playing out the match. It restricted my running, but it didn’t harm me in any way and I got through the game... unfortunately we didn’t get the four points.”
Not surprisingly, Laidler cited Carrazzo as a real influence as he embarked on what’s been, to say the least, a solid rehab program.
“I’ve basically done another pre-season for eight weeks,” Laidler said, “and he (Carrazzo) pushed me along which was good”.
“Andy’s a great runner and I tried to stay with him, which was very tough. I was so rapt for him last week because I know he did everything he possibly could to get himself up to scratch in the AFL.”
Another to whom Laidler is indebted is the internationally-recognised Melbourne orthopedic surgeon Dr Julian Feller. As Laidler observed: “Julian’s tightened the ligament tighter than in my good leg, which has given me a lot of confidence”.
Having quickly overcome a dislocated left kneecap in a NAB Cup match in March, Laidler has found the follow-up injury particularly galling given the recent fortunes of the team.
“It’s been tough to watch, particularly as I’ve always been one to try and get out there as quick as I can,” he said. “We have had a rough patch, but we’ve tried to arrest our deficiencies, and the boys have stuck together and come back in these past couple of weeks with a lot of confidence.
“We’re all sticking together. All we can ask is that the fans stick together and stick with us. I know we’ve missed out on a couple of wins this past fortnight, but we’ve regained a bit of form and hopefully we can take that into the next four weeks and onwards.”
Fingers crossed, Laidler emerges unscathed against the Cats and completes a Round 14 return against Hawthorn, whom Carlton has not beaten in eight starts since Round 6, 2005.
“I’ll definitely be aiming for Hawthorn. It’ll be up to the coaching panel and how I go at the weekend, but I’ll be trying to put my hand up for sure,” he said.
