The injuries are continuing to stack up for the Highlanders with a gaping hole appearing in their midfield.
With a pre-season game against the Chiefs in Queenstown on Saturday, coach Jamie Joseph is scratching his head to find some players to fill the middle of his backline.
Shaun Treeby is still recovering from a knee injury, Siale Piutau has had an operation on his ankle, Tamati Ellison is in Japan while Kendrick Lynn fractured a bone in his neck in last Friday night's game against the Crusaders and is out for an indefinite period.
Winger Kade Poki is also an injury problem after the game in Greymouth against the Crusaders and is a long shot to make the first game of the competitive season against the Chiefs in Hamilton on February 25.
Poki, who has a history of knee problems, has damaged a medial ligament in his knee, and will be properly assessed when the swelling goes down. He is expected to be out for a minimum of two weeks.
Throw in the long-term absentees such as locks Jarrad Hoeata and Josh Bekhuis, and captain Jamie Mackintosh, and the Highlanders are not in a great position two and a-half weeks away from the start of the season.
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph said the injuries were obviously disappointing.
"It's not good at all, and they are key players who have not played for us. You've got Whopper [Jamie Mackintosh], Josh [Bekhuis] and Jarrad [Hoeata] all out and they are three of our tight five out from last year," Joseph said.
Lynn was hit high in a ruck and left the field immediately on Friday night. He fractured a bone in his neck and how long he is out for is still unclear but Joseph said it would be a minimum of a couple of months.
"Guys like Treeby are not far away but they are not ready yet either. You've got to be mindful that his last game of rugby was halfway through the ITM Cup last season.
"We have got a lot of cover within our team but not to the case that we have four centres. No-one does.
"There was a bit of disappointment around with all the injuries but we've just got to knuckle down and move on with it. We haven't hit the panic button yet."
He was still assessing whether to bring in some replacement players, with Piutau and Lynn both likely to be out for a considerable period.
The Highlanders did not have a great start to their pre-season last Friday night with a 47-19 loss to Crusaders, after being down 35-0 at halftime.
Joseph changed the team round at halftime and said the side in the second half had played better.
Although disappointed with the loss he said it was good for players to finally get a run and take a few hits.
The Crusaders had come out of the blocks quickly on Friday night, and it had taken the Highlanders a while to get up to speed.
Ellison and loose forward James Haskell are not expected to arrive in Dunedin until the week of the first game after the side they play for in Japan, the Ricoh Black Rams, qualified for post-season play.
The team did not qualify for the top four but is in play-offs for fifth to eighth, which will continue for another couple of weeks.
Highlanders
Unavailable
• Kade Poki - knee (return unknown)
• Colin Slade - hernia (another two weeks)
• Siale Piutau - ankle (six weeks)
• Kendrick Lynn - neck (two months)
• Tamati Ellison - Japan (two weeks)
• Shaun Treeby - knee (unknown)
• James Haskell - Japan (two weeks)
• Josh Bekhuis hip - (unknown)
• Jarrad Hoeata shoulder - (two months)
• Jamie Mackintosh pelvis - (unknown)
