As Super rugby takes a break for the June international test window, the Highlanders sit fifth on the table, very much still in the playoff hunt.
The side suffered a disappointing 38-31 loss to the Reds on Friday night but did manage to pick up two bonus points.
With the Force, Chiefs, Bulls and Hurricanes all losing, the Highlanders' defeat in Brisbane may not have been as season defining as first thought.
They were sixth going into the round and are in fifth because of their 10 bonus points, the most of any side in the competition. There are seven teams within eight points of each other.
Coach Jamie Joseph said in terms of playoffs it would have been nice to have beaten the Reds but in reality it is all going to come down to the final three rounds.
''If we had beaten the Reds it would have given us some breathing space. But it is really going to come down to those last few games. Everyone is playing everyone around there so that is going to decide it,'' Joseph said.
''We are heading into the business end of the season and that is when players have to stand up and be counted.''
The three-week break will be followed by a game against the Chiefs at home while the finish could not be tougher - a physical Waratahs side in Sydney, then the Crusaders in Christchurch.
To win any of those three games the team will have to take a major step forward, and improve markedly on Friday night.
The Highlanders put together their worst performance of the season in Brisbane, finding themselves down 21-0 at the break after a bumbling first half.
''In that first half anything that could go wrong did go wrong. But we came back well in the second half to nearly get a draw. But you have to credit the Reds. They played well as I knew they would.''
Tighthead prop Ma'afu Fia left the field after 10 minutes with a concussion and lock Joe Wheeler also went off after half an hour through a blow to the head. Jarrad Hoeata went off in the second half as he tired and loose forward Elliot Dixon ended up playing at lock.
The set piece was poor in the first half - the lineout was all over the place and the scrum went the same way.
Joseph said the loss of Fia and Wheeler undoubtedly upset the tight five, but conceded the ''side did not play well''.
Replacement half Fumiaki Tanaka scored a try in the dying minutes, converted by Hayden Parker, to tie the game at 31-31.
The Reds then kicked it too long from the kick-off but Highlanders replacement back Phil Burleigh then chose to kick the ball away, giving it straight back to the Reds. The fulltime hooter went when Burleigh's kick was in the air.
Joseph said if the kick had gone out the Reds would have had the ability to use the rolling maul in their lineout, of which the Highlanders were wary.
The side broke up over the weekend and will have 10 days off before coming together in the middle of next week.
In other games over the weekend, the Waratahs beat the Chiefs 33-17 in New Plymouth, the Blues defeated the Hurricanes 37-24 in Auckland and, in Canberra, the Brumbies downed the Rebels 37-10.
In South Africa, the Lions upset the Bulls 32-21 and the Stormers beat the table-topping Sharks, 21-19.
