Asked how he will deal with the challenge, Maitland said with a smile: "I ... think I'll just try to pick up Crotts if he's playing and stare at him."
Second-five Crotty is playing, as it happens, and so is Slade - on the wing, but not directly opposite his old mate.
Maitland, now 26, gave up on his dream of making the All Blacks in 2012 and now plies his trade in these northern parts.
The quick and powerfully-built right wing left the Crusaders for Glasgow Warriors, making his Scotland debut a year later. He has played for Scotland 14 times, and made the British and Irish Lions squad for their successful tour of Australia last year, but never got on the field in a test although he was named on the bench once.
He said he has no regrets about moving to the other side of the world. He has bought a house in Glasgow and considers it his second home. One gets the feeling New Zealand will always be his true home, but he said he considered representing the Scottish side of his family on the world stage a privilege, describing the past few years as a "whirlwind".
"The last couple of years have gone so quick. I've enjoyed being with these boys and we've played great rugby at Glasgow and for Scotland.
"The first six months took me a while to get acclimatised and that's what the overseas guys said would happen. ... but it's all second nature now.
"I wouldn't say I had mixed emotions going into this game. The overwhelming feeling that I have is just excitement."
Maitland, who has a Scottish connection on both sides of his family, told the Scotsman newspaper last year of living in Glasgow: "The people are real friendly and it's no problem for me to understand them. Right up until he passed away when I was 16, my grandfather spoke with a Glaswegian accent. He never lost it all his time in New Zealand."
Sitting alongside Maitland as he talks about his development as a person and a player is Finn Russell, the Scotland first-five. Russell has a connection to Christchurch of his own - he spent three months at Canterbury Rugby's International High Performance Unit, and played for Lincoln University, alongside Dominic Bird, who is playing for the All Blacks on Sunday.
Asked about playing inside a strike weapon such as Maitland, Russell, who does a nice line in dry humour, said: "He's all right. No, it's great having Sean there. We play together at Glasgow so we know each other's play. He's a big guy, he's got great skills - he's not very humble, though. I've always got to try to keep his feet on the ground, you know, especially when he scores tries."
To laughter, Russell added, seriously this time: "He runs good lines and he's big and strong. He's a great strike weapon for us that we'll be looking to use this week."
