They are, more or less, where many expected them to be at the halfway point of their season.
Three hidings and a competitive loss against fellow New Zealand teams mixed with three solid wins over inferior teams has taken them to seventh in the table, and near the top of the bottom half of what is shaping as a competition of two halves - yes, that sentence does make sense.
It is uncertain whether the Highlanders, developing slowly and welcoming back healthy players, are good enough just yet to beat those better teams, so they need to deal to the chasing bunch, as simple as that.
Beat the Force tonight and the Waratahs on Friday and they will be very close to sealing a place in the playoffs.
Highlanders coach Clarke Dermody is aware results are the gauge but he would also like to see his team show in the coming weeks that it can have more than a token presence in the sudden-death stage of the season.
"I think the performance is the first thing, because we’ve said from game one that we want to be in the playoffs but we also want to have a game that can compete in the playoffs," Dermody said from Perth.
"We don’t want to just be the eighth team in, and our game not be up to scratch to foot it with the best teams.
"We’ve been trying to grow our game, and it’s still pretty simple, and we want to test it against the Force who are back at home after a tough tour and looking forward to beating us."
It does not take a rugby genius to highlight a couple of areas where the Highlanders will hope to make hay in the warmth of Perth.
In-form midfielder Thomas Umaga-Jensen carries the hopes of a backline, and a powerful front row leading one of the best scrums in the competition will try to cause some damage.
The intriguing thing is whether that front row will be allowed to dominate.
Dermody sought some clarification from the competition’s officials during the bye week around whether his side was doing anything wrong at scrum time.
"The big thing is to get that feedback and then address it. But the feedback was that we weren’t far away, and potentially some of those calls were a bit 50-50.
"We want to use our scrum as a weapon, and it’s about understanding what the referee wants to see, while using the scrum as well as we can."
Behind the scrum, it is a massive night for young halfback James Arscott.
He steps into some very large shoes for his first start but has been supported to the hilt by his coach.
"He’s in the team for a reason. We see a big future in front of him, but he can just go and distribute the ball to our drivers, boss the forwards around... everything a nine does.
"I know he’s looking forward to the opportunity."
There will also be real interest in the debut off the bench of rookie Nathan Hastie.
The highly rated halfback had superb all-round skills and a powerful left boot, Dermody said.
"Unfortunately he didn’t get to play the NPC last year through injury, so he missed a bit of development through there, and he wasn’t in a position to play earlier when we had injuries.
"Now he gets an opportunity to show us what he can do."
In-form Hugh Renton is unlucky to miss the game but Dermody said it was simply a case of loose forward being a competitive position and his desire to see regular first-choice No 8 Marino Mikaele-Tu’u back on deck.
Recent history is with the Highlanders. They have won six straight against the Force following, oddly enough, six straight losses in this fixture.
Rather shockingly, the Force has has won just one of its past 28 games against New Zealand teams.
Several Highlanders, including Taieri flanker James Lentjes, Southern prop Ayden Johnstone and welcome Alhambra-Union cavalry in the form of Nikora Broughton and Mosese Dawai, will play club rugby today.
Super Rugby Pacific
Perth, 9.35pm (NZ time)
Highlanders: Sam Gilbert, Connor Garden-Bachop, Fetuli Paea, Thomas Umaga-Jensen, Jonah Lowe, Mitch Hunt, James Arscott, Marino Mikaele-Tu’u, Billy Harmon (captain), Shannon Frizell, Will Tucker, Pari Pari Parkinson, Jermaine Ainsley, Andrew Makalio, Ethan de Groot.
Reserves: Leni Apisai, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Saula Ma'u, Fabian Holland, Sean Withy, Nathan Hastie, Freddie Burns, Josh Timu.
Force: Chase Tiatia, Toni Pulu, Sam Spink, Hamish Stewart, Manasa Mataele, Bryce Hegarty, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Michael Wells (captain), Ollie Callan, Tim Anstee, Jeremy Williams, Felix Kalapu, Santiago Medrano, Tom Horton, Tom Robertson.
Reserves: Feleti Kaitu'u, Angus Wagner, Siosifa Amone, Ryan McCauley, Rahboni Vosayaco, Ian Prior, Bayley Kuenzle, George Poolman.
