The Otago Rugby Football Union is back in the black - recording an operating profit of more than $200,000 - but has warned its financial position remains fragile.
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph says spirits are still high in the side and he hopes to have some heavy artillery back this Friday, to take on the Reds.
Otago's past captain and a player in the side's engine room are marching off to the Saints.
Coach Jamie Joseph says the Highlanders need to stand up and fight, and believes they have landed a quality player in No 8 Mose Tuiali'i.
A former captain of the Otago Boys' High School First XV is believed to be one of the oldest people to have played international rugby - and he is still strapping on the boots at 45.
Coach Jamie Joseph admits the yellow card picked up by Ma'a Nonu was a key in the side's loss to the Blues last night.
Josh Renton, captain of the Otago Boys' High School First XV last year, is one of six players from Otago selected for the final trial for the New Zealand Colts squad.
Last year's captain, Jamie Mackintosh, will finally get a run for the Highlanders tonight but coach Jamie Joseph has resisted making wholesale changes in his pack.
A senior member of the Pirates backline says he will not be playing premier rugby this year, upset at the number of games not being played on Saturday afternoon.
Otago professional golfer Mahal Pearce will not be heading anywhere near a football field soon, after breaking his foot in a five-minute cameo on the pitch last Saturday.
Mose Tuiali'i is ready to get physical.
This is getting depressingly familiar.
Affiliation fees will be imposed on clubs throughout the province as the Otago Rugby Football Union faces a funding shortfall of more than $300,000 this year.
All Whites striker Shane Smeltz is blunt about what needs to be done in Friday night's crunch game against New Caledonia.
If it had all gone to plan, Neil Brew would be having a holiday and thinking of shifting and schooling.
The Highlanders are languishing at the bottom of the table, but you could hardly lay the blame at the feet of fullback Ben Smith.
Game number five, loss number five. That is the depressing statistic for the Highlanders after the were beaten 34-33 by the Reds at Forsyth Barr Stadium tonight.
Northern United will celebrate its 125th anniversary this weekend and is going under the roof as part of the festivities.
Andrew Hore has made a swift recovery from a rib injury and will lead the Highlanders against the Reds tomorrow night.
Rugby writer Steve Hepburn targets three things the Highlanders need to do to taste victory tomorrow night.
