When Lynn lines up at centre against the Hurricanes in Invercargill on Friday night, it will be his 12th consecutive match. Given he spent the off-season recovering from groin surgery, that has been a bonus to the Highlanders whose back resources have been decimated by injuries.
Colin Slade, Shaun Treeby, Siale Piutau, James Paterson and Kurt Baker are all sidelined, wing Kade Poki is a week-by-week proposition with his knee problem and Lima Sopoaga has just returned after a lengthy layoff with a shoulder injury.
But Lynn, 28, a stalwart of 52 games for Southland and 29 for the Highlanders, has played every minute of every match.
"I definitely didn't think that would be the case," he said. "I didn't think I would be ready for the start of the campaign but the groin recovery went really well and I'm rapt to have played in every game.
"It's a bit of a war of attrition at the moment. We have a lot of guys down. But I think the guys who will come in are more than capable and will champing at the bit to have a crack.
"We just have to box on. It's a long campaign so there is always the likelihood you're going to be using the whole squad. I'm sure everyone who puts on the jersey will be able to step up and go well."
The Highlanders today made five changes to the team which started last week's 20-7 loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton.
In the forwards, Mo Schwalger starts at hooker ahead of Jason Rutledge, and Tom Donnelly comes into the locking position with Jarrad Hoeata moving to the blindside flank as cover for the injured Adam Thomson.
In the backs Telusa Veainu, Matt Saunders and Poki move into the starting the lineup, replacing Piutau, Paterson, and Robbie Robinson, who has been bracketed with Tony Brown on the bench.
Lynn was loathe to use the injury disruptions as a major factor for the loss last weekend.
"It was our worst performance of the year," he said. "We didn't front up and we didn't do the things we wanted to do, like hold on to the ball and build pressure. And when we do get into the attacking zone, we need to come away with points, whether it's a penalty or a try.
"We've had a good hard look back at that game, we've seen what we did wrong and we need to put it right this weekend.
"Our one-on-one-tackling was disappointing. Tackling's a personal mindset thing so that maybe showed that we weren't quite there mentally."
Lynn said the Highlanders had to put last week's poor performance behind them and show some of the grit which had earned them seven wins earlier in the season.
"We're getting to the important part of the season now and we need to stand up and put in some big performances. We're still in with a good chance of making the playoffs. We've got everything to play for and the motivation is still there."
Lynn said the Hurricanes had improved in recent weeks and would be a tougher opponent than the side the Highlanders beat 14-9 in the first match of the competition.
"They're dangerous opposition. They've lost a few games but they've got nothing to lose now and that's when they're at their most dangerous.
"They're similar to the Chiefs. They've got X-factor players out wide and plenty of ball runners. We're going to need to pick up our game."
Highlanders: Ben Smith, Kade Poki, Kendrick Lynn, Matt Saunders, Telusa Veainu, Lima Sopoaga, Jimmy Cowan, Nasi Manu, Alando Soakai, Jarrad Hoeata, Josh Bekhuis, Tom Donnelly, Chris King, Mo Schwalger, Jamie Mackintosh (captain). Reserves: Jason Rutledge, Bronson Murray, John Hardie, Nick Crosswell, Aaron Smith, Ben Atiga, Robbie Robinson/Tony Brown.
