North Otago Rugby Football Union chief executive Colin Jackson maintains coach Glenn Moore should not shoulder the blame for the rut in which the Highlanders find themselves.
In today's sports pages, he suggests it is the failure of Otago rugby to develop local talent that has partly stymied the Highlanders' progress.
"The franchise, in recent times, has simply failed to capture the imagination of three provincial rugby unions and their communities," Jackson writes.
"In North Otago, we have lost empathy and passion for the Highlanders through not having players that we can identify with and call our own."
The Highlanders have not made the Super rugby semifinals since 2002. Under Moore, they have finished 11th in the Super 14 twice and have a record this season of seven losses and just two wins.
Poor performances on the field and bleeding balance sheets off it forced the New Zealand Rugby Union, which controls the five franchises, to step in last year and make a two-year deal to financially underwrite the Highlanders. The NZRU also made its own appointment to the board.
Crowds have plummeted, and allied to the Highlanders' fall has been the alarming dip of its biggest provincial union, Otago.
While neighbour Southland has celebrated back-to-back semifinal finishes, winning the Ranfurly Shield and developing a swag of local talent, Otago has slumped to successive 10th placings in the national championship.
That has led to the recruitment of former Reds coach Phil Mooney, and to mass change at board level, with former All Blacks Wayne Graham and Laurie Mains joining the union.
Jackson has called for another seismic shift, arguing the Otago Rugby Football Union should no longer operate the Highlanders franchise.
"It is time for Otago and the Highlanders to go their separate ways. Both should be stand-alone and accountable. There should be two separate offices, with management dedicated to one role."
Highlanders chief executive Richard Reid and chairman Ross Laidlaw have declined to comment on Jackson's suggestions.
