Otago finished its season last Friday night with a 41-16 loss to Counties-Manukau in the ITM Cup championship final in Pukekohe.
It was a good effort from Otago to make the final after all the financial drama off the field before the season kicked off.
Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley said to make the final was a great performance from the team.
"If I had said when I started this job [in June] that we would make the final then no-one would have believed me. So to do that is great credit to the players and the coaching staff," he said.
The union was forced to slash costs and players were let go as it tried to balance the books before the season started.
This forced coach Tony Brown to pick some players straight out of club rugby but the side gelled well and eventually finished second on the championship ladder.
Kinley said with Otago going right through to the final, he did not want to bother players about what they were doing next year until they finished playing.
But now the season was over, the union would be looking to sign players for next season.
Some players were coming off contracts, while others were in the middle of contracts. Others had just been signed for this season.
Kinley said a review of the season would be carried out over the next couple of weeks.
Brown, who is heading to Japan next month to link up with the Panasonic Wild Knights, has submitted a draft plan of players he would like to hold on to next year.
Some players were weighing up their futures, while others were also taking into account study options.
Kinley said he hoped to have all the players Otago wanted signed up by Christmas. However, he said there would be four to six places left open for players to play their way into the squad from club rugby.
"We want to create that pathway for players. If you have a good club rugby season then you are in with a chance to make the Otago team."
There are likely to be a couple of places open with the likes of Adam Thomson moving on, while there are doubts over whether stand-in captain Glenn Dickson will be back next year.
Players such as fullback Tony Ensor and prop Tama Tuirirangi started out playing club rugby this season and made it through to start for the Otago team.
Otago will continue in the championship next season and will have Brown back as coach.
Kinley said the union did not receive any money from making the final, although its costs of travelling to the final were met by the Counties-Manukau union.
Players are now on a four-week break, though some of them may line up for the Otago sevens side.
The sevens team will again be coached by Roy Hawker. It will play in a South Island tournament in Timaru on November 24.
