That was what drove him in his club colours today and that is what will drive him when he returns to the Crusaders this week. He'll feature against the Sunwolves at some stage on Friday night and given his experience and club hit out, it could be from the start.
There is nothing forced or contrived about Read. He's not trying to manufacture an image of himself as a man of the people. That bit comes naturally to him.
It's who he is and the more he settles into his role as All Blacks captain, the more it appears he's finding the confidence to simply be himself.
It is an unusual yet highly welcome road for a major sports figure to travel in this day and age. More typically, the modern high profile figure tends to have a public persona: a manufactured and deliberately crafted version of themselves.
The adoring masses are only allowed to see through a crack in the door and mostly it's obvious that what you see with players is not actually what you should be getting - that they are holding back or recreating themselves as something they have been told to be or think they should be.
If Read is holding back, it wouldn't appear to be much for while he only made his first rugby appearance of the year today, he's been a big part of the 2017 season already.
He's been on our TVs a fair bit, in various guises because it seems that consumer brands can't get enough of him. It's that honesty and transparency thing. He's a father, a husband and the sort of bloke who will cut the neighbour's berm - rather than pointedly just do his half.
The vibe is that he's a bloke everyone can trust and that's no bad thing for an All Blacks captain. No bad thing at all in what is shaping as one of the longest and most gruelling seasons of the professional age.
The All Blacks were already facing a huge challenge in 2017 just with the British and Irish Lions alone. But now they will play a total of 14 tests and two games.
Read's captaincy is going to be thoroughly examined. This will be the greatest prolonged test of his leadership and ability to galvanise what may be a ferociously talented side, but it is one that lacks experience.
And to lead it well, he has to play well which is, again, another reason why his increasing confidence to be himself is an encouraging factor.
He'll have trained the house down these past few months as he has rehabilitated from wrist surgery.
He'll be as well conditioned as he's ever been and as his match fitness sharpens, the expectation is that he'll build his game towards June.
He doesn't have to think about captaining the Crusaders. That job has gone to Sam Whitelock and it should benefit Read. It should see him feel freer to roam wider and to be more expressive once he's out there.
That's the bit of his game everyone wants to see more of. When he is attacking between the tramlines looking to force defenders into mistakes - that's when he's at his most effective.
No forward in world rugby has an offloading game in the same league as Read's. The next eight weeks or so are about him building his confidence to the point where he's ready to unleash all of his skills against the Lions.
The All Blacks coaches want him to be expressive, to be urgent, to be all over the field. They want him to effectively be himself and to play for the All Blacks with no more complex a thought that he's there purely for the love of the game.
