Read injured an ankle in the final Tri Nations match in August, a defeat for the All Blacks against Australia in Brisbane. At the time he thought the popping sound could have been the snap of bone which would have ruled him out of the World Cup. He cut a morose figure sitting on sideline with a bag of ice strapped to the sore joint.
Diagnosed as a sprain, he missed the All Blacks' three first pool games, entering the tournament with 60 minutes of action against Canada in Wellington.
While he surprised himself with his fitness in that game, Read was a little rusty in the quarter-final victory over Argentina, most obviously when missing a tackle on Pumas No8 Leonardo Senatore which led to a try to wing Julio Farias Cabello.
But he was back to his outstanding best in the convincing semifinal victory over the Wallabies. His aggressive ball carrying ability went up another few notches and his combination with the similarly impressive Richie McCaw and Jerome Kaino helped snuff out any Australian threat.
Like those two, Read is a big-game player and it doesn't get much bigger than a World Cup final.
"It's exciting,'' Read said. "You can't just rely on it being another week, you've really got to take it as a grand final and the biggest game of your career so you've got to enjoy it and get excited by the week because it's not going to come around too often in your career.''
The All Blacks, who trained at the Waitakere Trusts Stadium in west Auckland today, will have a less physically demanding schedule in order to give any bodies aching after more than six weeks of action time to recover.
Read said the emotions involved in running on to Eden Park in a final would clear the mind of any aches anyway.
"The final will take care of itself in terms of your body and being able to run through different injuries.''
If Read does hold up the William Webb Ellis trophy it will be a fitting end to a rollercoaster year for the player who will turn 26 next Wednesday.
He sent baby daughter Elle and wife Bridget to the North Island for a time after the February earthquakes in the Canterbury region before embarking on an odyssey with the homeless Crusaders in this year's Super Rugby competition which ended in a loss to the Reds in the final in Brisbane.
He will spend Sunday before the final with his family as he tries to put a date with destiny out of his mind. But it has become an ever-present now.
Had he visualised holding the World Cup? "I've probably thought about it. It was in the back of the mind a wee while ago, but right now to be honest it's just pretty exciting and an awesome opportunity and I'm just trying to soak up the week and looking forward to Sunday.''