But if they peaked over the horizon, they would see tough away games against the Chiefs and Hurricanes and a bleak playoff picture emerging.
Best not to look then.
That gaze has instead been directed at their most recent performance — a lacklustre effort against the Fijian Drua in Ba.
The 24-14 loss has further watered down their top-six prospects.
The Highlanders are five points adrift of the Brumbies, who occupy sixth place.
Realistically, they need to win at least two of their remaining three round-robin games.
That would get them to six wins, which was enough for the Blues last season, but not enough for Moana Pasifika and the Waratahs, who both missed the cut.
Highlanders assistant coach David Kidwell did not want to be drawn on his side’s playoff prospects.
"I'm not looking past the Waratahs," he said.
"We get this performance right first and then we'll look at the table.
"We've had a couple of good weeks and lead-ups to games, and we need to really transfer that into the game and that's where our concentration is this week."
Kidwell said the Highlanders prepared well for the match against the Drua and had laid the groundwork for success.
But they produced an error-ridden display, which was disappointing, Kidwell said.
"[We] created opportunities, just didn't take them through a bit of structure and individual errors.
"We've talked about it and we thought, you know, that we just need to concentrate a bit more at the right times, pull the trigger when we need to, and we just didn't take those opportunities that were presented to us."
The match statistics back up Kidwell’s take on the game.
The Highlanders enjoyed an even share of the ball and a territorial advantage, but they were not able to capitalise.
They also missed 34 tackles, which is on the high side and was 12 more than their opponent.
The Highlanders’ season-long lineout struggles were not as obvious because the Drua blew almost half their lineouts.
The Waratahs beat the Highlanders 32-20 the last time they played at Forsyth Barr Stadium, which was in 2022.
But the club does not have a great record in New Zealand. They are on a 12-game losing streak in Aotearoa.
They are also fresh from a 20-17 loss to the Force in Perth. They struggled to hang on to possession and lost the forward exchanges.
Kidwell is expecting a fired-up Waratahs’ pack.
"There's been a few things in the media and I think they're going to come with physicality, and they're going to try and push through us, and through their forwards and their maul.
"They've really got speedy outside backs as well, so we've got to make sure we're on defensively and then, again, sticking to our game."
Speaking of speedy backs, Highlanders winger Caleb Tangitau might not be too far away from a return. He suffered a head knock during the 47-40 loss to the Blues last month.
If declared fit, he will add some bite to the Highlanders' attack.
