It's been another completely forgettable season for the Otago Highlanders - a season filled with disappointing results, and games that simply seemed to slip through their fingers in the dying minutes.

For a province built on a proud history (rugby and otherwise) and a strong, "Southern Man" attitude, the results have been hard to swallow for most fans. For those hardy enough to continue following the Highlanders, the steady decline of the franchise has been unbearable.

There's a perfectly good reason why the Highlanders have gone from front runners to bottom dwellers - and that reason is player drain. Otago has been hit the hardest by the recent drain of players to Europe, and you only need to take a quick look at the quality of players missing from last year to understand the effect it's had:

Carl Hayman, Anton Oliver, Clark Dermody and Josh Blackie - and that's just a few. Add to that Nick Evans, who's returned to the Blues, and you can start to make sense of the rapid decline in Otago rugby's results and performances.

Although reluctant to go to the draft for players, this year they really had no choice - and they did end up finding some solid players. But a trend is devleloping over the years - the Higlanders un-earth good players, only to have them snatched up by their home provinces for the next season - and this trend is bound to continue. Two perfect examples of talent unearthed by the Highlanders this year spring to mind - Anthony Tuitavake and Richard Kahui. What will happen to them next year?

If Otago is to have any chance of reclaiming some of their lost pride, they need some help from the NZRFU. Players selected in the draft should be made available to the club that first selected them, so that teams like the Highlanders have a chance of building up a strong core of players, rather than having to start from the beginning again - every year. You could almost guarantee that the Highlanders would move up the competition ladder - if they could just stick with the same squad for more than a year!

If this problem is not resolved soon, the future of the Highlanders will remain up in the air.

So with that said - an appeal to the NZRFU from us here in the Attic:

Please remember, guys - this is the club that gave us great All Blacks like Jeff Wilson, Josh Kronfield, Taine Randell, Carl Hoeft, Kees Meeuws, and Tony Brown. Do something about it's future!

On a more positive note for the Higlanders - lets remember their amazing win over arch rivals Canterbury, which was a very rare highlight in an otherwise very disappointing year. But - a highlight none-the-less.

Fetu Vainakolo, Adam Thompson, Jaime McIntosh, and Paul Williams all deserve credit for their performances this season, while we wish the best of luck to outgoing captain Craig Newby, who is off to Leister. He's had a strong career at Otago since coming down from North Harbour, and he'll be sorely missed by the club and its fans.

Let's hope that the bulk of the Highlanders squad can be retained for next year. If it is, we just might see a revival in the deep South.