Over five years at Geelong and Carlton, Laidler made just 26 senior appearances, 19 of which came during the 2011 season with the Blues.
Now with the Sydney Swans, the 24-year-old has played three of their four games in 2014 and hopes he has finally found his home in the AFL.
Picked up by Geelong in the 2008 rookie draft, Laidler found it hard to break into the strong Cats line-up, playing just two senior games in two years.
It led to some frustration but, rather than being disheartened, he viewed it as an outstanding learning experience.
"I saw that as my apprenticeship in football," Laidler told AFL.com.au.
"I was a rookie for two years and learning off all the older guys down there like (Matthew) Scarlett and (Darren) Milburn.
"I tried to learn as much as I could, but not playing senior football got a bit frustrating."
That's when Carlton, who had also tried to recruit him in 2009, came calling for a second time.
Then-coach Brett Ratten was extremely keen to add Laidler to his backline and the youngster repaid that faith with an excellent first season, playing in both of the Blues' 2011 finals.
"The coach backed me in and I had a lot of confidence to play the footy I wanted to," he said.
He then played the first four games of 2012 before disaster struck, with a dislocated knee ruining the rest of that season.
By the time he was ready to play again, Ratten had been sacked and Mick Malthouse was coaching Carlton, an appointment that would spell the end of Laidler's time at the club.
He played one more senior game, in round two last year, before spending the remainder of the season with the Northern Blues in the VFL.
"I was fully fit last year, Mick just came across and had his own plan and players he wanted to bring in and I wasn't part of his plan," Laidler said.
"Mick wanted me to play down forward, which was basically him showing me the door.
"It was basically me starting pre-season again by going down forward and I had to learn all the new structures.
"We had to part ways."
He spoke to a number of clubs before opting for a move to Sydney, with the Swans stating they wanted him in defence and felt he could get back
to that 2011 form.
It was a big change for the Victorian, whose only previous visit to the city was to play against the Swans three years ago.
He was then shocked to learn he was playing in round one and while he was dropped the following week, he bounced straight back and will make his third straight appearance against Fremantle on Saturday.
Swans coach John Longmire is pleased with his progress.
"Last week against Adelaide he was pretty good and then against North Melbourne he was able to get forward and kick a couple of goals," Longmire said.
"That's not his primary role, but he's been able to add some flexibility to our team.
"He's a good decision maker and a good kick, which is helpful."
Those two goals against the Kangaroos took his tally for the year to three, already surpassing the two he had previously kicked for his entire career.
But he knows defending is his main focus and has been spending time on and off the field with the rest of the Swans' backline to aid his transition.
And his confidence is returning following a couple of rocky years.
"I'm pretty happy, my last two games I've done my job," Laidler said.
"But I can't become content now.
"I have to still try to move forward and find a bit of the ball, but I mainly have to defend well. That's my main focus.
"Hopefully I've got a long career here and I think I've found the right fit."
