The bad news is their winless run against various neighbours now extends to a grim 13 after their 28-7 loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton tonight.
But there is also some promising news. Some glass-half-full news.
They played, as the saying goes, with a ton of ticker. They showed some Highlanders pride.
They were far from disgraced against a team, to be blunt, loaded with more talent.
It was first against last in Super Rugby Pacific but the gap was mostly not that big.
Yes, the Chiefs always looked a bit slicker, and a lot more likely to score, especially when little master Damian McKenzie was pulling the strings and relentless hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho was doing his thing.
But the Highlanders showed guts and commitment, especially when the game appeared to be racing away from them at a crucial point in the second half.
Shannon Frizell had been sent to the bin — to be fair to the All Blacks flanker, he had not done much wrong, but the Highlanders as a team had just given away too many penalties — when the Chiefs turned an 11-0 lead into a 21-0 lead in the blink of an eye.
Shaun Stevenson ran a lovely angle and swallowed a perfectly timed pass to score his fourth try of the season, and replacement Samipeni Finau crossed after an 80m movement.
But when Sam Cane then followed Frizell to the naughty chair, Mosese Dawai crashed over to give the Highlanders some hope.
Mitch Hunt, who worryingly ended up clutching a shoulder, was held up over the line, and Stevenson scored again to seal victory for the Chiefs.
Six minutes into the game, any casual Highlanders fan would have been thinking "uh oh".
The Chiefs backs sliced through the defensive line like a knife through butter of a certain consistency, and winger Etene Nanai-Seturo was the man to grab the opening try of the game.
Floodgates? Oddly, and pleasingly, no.
The Chiefs continued to look exceedingly dangerous with the ball in hand, and went 8-0 up with a McKenzie penalty, but that would be it in terms of first-half scoring.
That was even when a slightly terrifying statistic emerged: the home team having beaten 16 defenders to the Highlanders’ one.
What the Highlanders did particularly well in the first 40 was fight and scramble and run and track back, and fullback Freddie Burns showed all his experience and calmness as he cleared for touch time and again.
Further forward, No 8 Hugh Renton — the third man used by the Highlanders at the base of the scrum in as many weeks — was vigorous and disruptive, and had one glorious 30m run.
But the Highlanders also botched a couple of handy lineouts, and with danger man Thomas Umaga-Jensen kept largely under wraps, the backs never really looked like matching the Chiefs.
Big lock Pari Pari Parkinson left the field for a head injury assessment (he would fail it), allowing youngster Fabian Holland to make his first appearance of the season, while Jake Te Hiwi made his debut in the second half.
That ends a brutal start to the season for the Highlanders, who arguably had the toughest draw in the competition and already have a worrying injury list.
They now have a run of games that most would suggest they can, and need to, win — starting with the Force in Invercargill next Sunday.
The scores
Chiefs 28 (Shaun Stevenson 2, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Samipeni Finau tries; Damien McKenzie con, 2 pen)
Highlanders 7 (Mosese Dawai try; Freddie Burns con)
Halftime: Chiefs 8-0.
