But the matter of two broken jaws got in the way and Slade thought his chances of playing at the ground before the closed sign went up were virtually nil.
After just 80 minutes at the venue this year with the Highlanders, Slade gets another chance to take in every nook and cranny of the ground.
The 23-year-old admitted he was somewhat lucky to be in the starting All Black side for the test against Fiji and hoped to make the most of his chance.
"I have not played a lot of rugby, actually, but they [All Black selectors] have showed some faith in me and I want to repay them," he said.
"I have played a bit there [Carisbrook] obviously, over the years for Canterbury. There was not a lot this year - one there and one in Invercargill. But I've done the training there and am pretty familiar with conditions and the wind and that."
One advantage for Slade in his first test start - he came on for about 20 minutes against the Wallabies in Sydney last year - was he had played alongside halfback Jimmy Cowan.
"Me and Jimmy have got a relationship which was not so much on the field, but off the field we get along. He has got a massive amount of experience and then outside me I've got Ma'a [Nonu] and he has got a massive amount of experience as well."
Slade, who is expecting a big tribe of supporters to come down from Christchurch, is not buying into the talk that the match will be a walkover.
"We are mindful of what the Fijians can do but we have to get our game under control and then establish what we are trying to achieve.
"But if you have a look at Fiji through the Pacific Nations Cup they are not going to be a walkover. None of those sides ever are. Most of them have dangerous players."
Slade had a minor adductor strain which has limited his goal kicking of late but he said it was a manageable injury and he would be ready to kick the goals tonight.
