Whineray died in Auckland yesterday morning, aged 77.
He played 77 times for the All Blacks, including 32 tests, and he captained the side 67 times. He was part of a golden All Black era from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s.
Laidlaw (68) first encountered Whineray when, as a young Otago halfback, he was picked for the 1963-64 tour of the northern hemisphere.
"He was a great New Zealander. He had a superb ability to bring people together in an easy and friendly manner ... there was a natural authority about him," Laidlaw said.
"He was lucky in a sense, I suppose, that the players that he started with - Meads, Tremain and others - went through with him and never questioned him.
"But not only was he a good captain but he was also a fine player. On the field he was quick and had good handling ability, [which] at that time was rare in props. He could run as well as most people and went out and got involved in open play."
Laidlaw said in the 1963-64 tour, it took a while as a new boy to be accepted by the more veteran players in the team.
He had criticised Whineray for this in his 1973 book, Mud in Your Eye, but yesterday Laidlaw said in hindsight there was nothing wrong with what happened.
"He had the ability to bring out the best in all sorts of people.
"When I think of Wilson I think of grace. Just the quality he brought to everything he did. It was an unusual for a footy player to have that at such a high level."
Whineray first played for the All Blacks in 1957 and was named captain when he was just 23, the following year.
Sir Wilson Whineray
Rugby royalty
Born: Auckland, July 10, 1935.
Died: Auckland, October 22, 2012.
All Black career
Debut: v Australia, Sydney, May 1957.
Matches: 77 (including 32 tests).
Scoring: Seven tries and one drop goal.
Captaincy: Made captain in 1958, aged 23.
Led the All Blacks 67 times.
Position: Prop.
Also represented: Wairarapa, Mid Canterbury, Manawatu, Canterbury, Waikato, Auckland, South Island, North Island, New Zealand Colts, New Zealand Universities. Played 240 first-class matches.
Coaching career
Grammar (Auckland) and Onslow (Wellington).
Honours
New Zealand sportsman of the year (1965), Harkness Scholarship to Harvard University (1967-68), knighted for services to sport and business, inducted into New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and IRB Hall of Fame.
Education
Auckland Grammar School, Massey Agricultural College, Lincoln College.
Outside rugby
• Spent 10 years as chairman of Carter Holt Harvey.
• Served on the boards of several other companies.
• Chairman of the Hillary Commission.
• Member of Eden Park board of control.
• Became New Zealand Rugby Union patron in 2003.
