One does not like counting one's chickens too soon - but after four wins from four games, Otago appears assured of playoff rugby.
The side has bagged the maximum 20 points on offer and, judging on past experiences in the national domestic competition, it has done enough to get into the semifinals.
Since the competition was split into two divisions - the Premiership and the Championship - in 2012, the fourth-placed team in the Championship has qualified for the semifinals with just four wins.
Southland, from 2012 to 2014, won just four games each season but did enough with bonus points to qualify for the semifinals. Twice it scored only 19 points to make it to the semifinals.
Last year, Bay of Plenty finished fourth in the Championship with 19 points to qualify for an away semifinal.
How a side can qualify for a semifinal when it wins fewer than half its games is a good question but such is the structure of the domestic competition.
It hardly seems fair that the fourth qualifier in the Championship - in effect, the 11th-best province in New Zealand - can get to take part in a semifinal while a team in the Premiership can end up being the fifth-best team in the land and yet still miss out on the playoffs.
There have been calls to overhaul the whole two-division concept and have just the one competition but those plans have been hamstrung by a tight playing calendar and financial factors.
Otago sits on top of the Championship with 20 points but will want to get more points as it is eager to get home advantage right through the playoffs. It sits 10 points clear of second-placed Manawatu, although it has played one more game than all the other teams, apart from Northland.
Otago has some tough examinations ahead as its first four games were against sides from the Championship.
The province has also played games against the two sides yet to win a game in the Championship - Southland and Northland.
Otago will get a sterner examination of its credentials this Saturday when it plays its first game against a Premiership side when Tasman plays at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Tasman has won two of it three games but may be without two key players for the game.
Winger James Lowe is out for the majority of a season with a broken thumb while Highlander Marty Banks strained his hamstring during the team's win over Taranaki in Nelson on Saturday.
Otago is in a reasonable state of health although it will be glad to be back on home turf.
Its flight back from Tauranga was cancelled yesterday so it had to bus to Auckland and was not scheduled to get back into Dunedin until about 7pm.