They were given time-out by the All Black selectors after the northern hemisphere tour and were not part of the squad when it trained in Dunedin during the last three weeks.
Utility back Ben Smith, who has been on light duties for the last three weeks, will return to full duty when the squad returns.
He had an operation after breaking a bone in his left foot during Otago's Air New Zealand Cup campaign.
The Highlanders squad breaks for Christmas tomorrow after a gruelling three weeks concentrating on fitness work.
Coach Glenn Moore told the Otago Daily Times yesterday he was "delighted with this group and the work ethic they have demonstrated over the last three weeks".
"I'm already seeing a group of guys coming in from different provincial unions who are starting to bond well.
"The training's gone very well. It's been a torrid three weeks for the guys and they have put a lot of effort in. I'm happy where we are at."
Moore has worked the Highlanders harder than when he first filled the coaching role 12 months ago.
"We've tried to push more into slightly less time than we had last year," he said.
"The conditioning side of pre-season training has been slightly harder."
The Highlanders have also done a lot of work on skills and introduced some game play instruction into the programme and have done some work on the scrums.
"We've done a lot more skill work than we did last year," Moore said. 'We didn't do any game plan work at all before the Christmas break last year."
A lot of work has been done around passing and catching and identifying space.
"We have also worked on tactical kicking," Moore said.
The Highlanders have had scrum guru Mike Cron to Dunedin on two occasions to work with the pack.
"It was just a matter of getting all the systems in place," Moore said.
The Highlanders finished 11th last season but could have won more games had the goal-kicking been better.
"I'm confident that we will be in a good space at game time," Moore said.
"We have the goal-kickers and they have been doing a lot of work in their own time."
The Highlanders leave for their Christmas break today and will be back in Dunedin on January 5.
The coach intends having a few days break himself at his holiday home in Twizel.
"I still think about rugby when I'm on my break," Moore said.
"I do a lot of my best thinking when I'm away from the game and relaxed."
The players are not as lucky because they will have maintenance work to do.
They have been given fitness programmes they must follow during the break.
"It will not be full on," Moore said.
"But we will be testing them on the day they come back."
The Highlanders' pre-season programme is: January 23, v Chiefs, Rotorua, 6pm; January 30, v Crusaders, Timaru, 5.30pm; February 5pm v Blues, Albany, 2pm.
The first Super 14 game is against the Brumbies at Carisbrook on Friday February 13.
