In Christchurch last year, Fowler finished runner-up in the discus and sixth in the shot put. He has entered for both events again.
It will be hard to beat his training partner Marshall Hall, who has won the senior men's title for the past two years and leads this year's ranking list with 51.96m.
Fowler is ranked fifth with 46.55m. He was behind the ball game before last year's championships and lifted his performance on the day to take the silver medal.
Fowler and Hall are both coached by Raylene Bates, who has the knack of bringing her throwers to a peak for the big event.
Bates has the ability to detect any weakness in her throwers and picked out a glaring fault in Fowler's technique that needed fixing.
"If I get everything right, I can get on the podium," Fowler said.
"But lately I haven't been getting a good block at the front."
Fowler has a personal best throw of 47.83m, which he threw at last year's national championships, but he has been short of the distance this season.
"It's a bit of a mental barrier for me at the moment," he said.
"I'm just playing with my head. But if I get everything right, it's highly possible for me to get back on the podium."
He would like to beat his training partner but knows that Hall is a class thrower and it will be difficult.
"We support each other," Fowler said. "If he does a great throw, I'm not going to be dark on it, but at the same time I still want to beat him."
Fowler is also a talented rugby player and has played premier rugby for Pirates for the past three years.
But he knows it is not possible to reach the top in both sports and he needs to decide on his future sports career.
Bates is a demanding coach and has told Fowler he needs to work hard in the winter if he is to make the breakthrough needed to represent New Zealand at Commonwealth and Olympic games.
Her squad does Sunday training in the winter months.
"After rugby, I'm too sore to do anything," he said. "Rugby just takes too much time out of your week."
Fowler was one of the goal kickers for the Pirates premier side and had to do individual kicking practice as well.
"I want to give athletics a serious go, get a good winter under my belt and get results next summer," he said.
He would like to lift his standards over the next few years and make a living from the sport.
"I wouldn't mind turning professional. I'm definitely going to give it my best shot."
His best bet is in the discus and shot put.
In his younger days, he was the New Zealand junior champion in the decathlon.
"But it is a hard event and virtually means eight hours training a day to reach the top," he said. "I will do the discus and shot put together."
Fowler transferred to Dunedin from Waimate three years ago to develop his sports career.
He has been a key member of the Pirates premier backline for the last three years and has also made an impact in athletics.
Three years ago, he won New Zealand junior athletics titles in the discus and 110m hurdles.
Olympic 1500m silver medallist Nick Willis will contest the 5000m at the championships on Friday.
Willis is into mileage training at the moment and his coach, American Ron Warhurst, wanted him to race the 5000m, which was more in keeping with his training.
He ran his best 5000m time of 13min 27.54sec at Sacramento, California, in 2005.
The senior men's 5000m starts at the Caledonian Ground at 5pm on Friday.
