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When November arrives, it's the beginning of the new NRL year.
Uniquely to Australia's national rugby league competition, November 1 marks the start of a recruitment frenzy. As of that date, many players will enter the final year of their contracted deals, which means they're free to negotiate with rival clubs and sign new deals wherever they choose.
And due to this player movement framework, clubs need to be thinking at least one year in advance or they'll get left behind.
Loading...Now's the time for NRL teams to have plans in place and be prepared to pounce.
So on that note, here are 10 of the more intriguing talking points, as we count down to the rugby league new year.
The Reynolds succession plan
2025 may be Adam Reynolds's last in the NRL. But whether it is or not, Brisbane needs to figure out what life after their key conductor actually looks like.
Reynolds is 13 first-grade games shy of 300, with plenty of tread on his tyres and a growing injury history.
A plethora of NRL halves are entering the final year on their current deals, so the Broncos brass (along with new coach Michael Maguire) has to determine who it wants wearing the number seven jumper beyond next season. And now's the time to make that call.
Is Toby Sexton the man?
This is a question that doesn't exclusively need to be answered by the Bulldogs.
Sexton turns 24 on the eve of next season, having recently just picked his NRL career up off the canvas at Belmore.
Toby Sexton answered a major question for Canterbury when he locked down the halfback spot mid-season. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
The half's breakthrough campaign came after his emergence as a rising star and subsequent flame-out on the Gold Coast.
Sexton put some great football on tape down the back half of last season, justifying some of the early-career hype, and could be on a number of clubs' radars. He's a Brisbane boy originally and clubs on both sides of the Tweed are in the market for a playmaker.
Starting halfbacks on controllable contracts are worth their weight in gold.
It's not all about sparkle on the glitter strip
The Titans' roster has more than enough talent and plenty of X factor in key positions.
Breakout 20-year-old fullback Keano Kini was recently crowned the Paul Broughton medallist for player of the year, leaving uncertainty around how AJ Brimson and Jayden Campbell — both recognised fullbacks — fit into the equation.
Brimson started 2024 at centre and both he and Campbell can also play five-eighth, but the side needs a steady hand at halfback to complement whatever direction Des Hasler goes in.
Kieran Foran enters the final year of his current contract, turning 35 midway through 2025, culminating in a lot of unanswered questions in Gold Coast's halves ranks.
Wayne returns to Redfern at the right time
Ben Hornby (right) took over as interim Souths coach midway through 2024, but Wayne Bennett (left) returns full-time next season. (Getty Images: Bradley Kanaris)
Supercoach Wayne Bennett is back at the Rabbitohs, as they too must figure out the make-up of their halves.
Cody Walker is uncontracted from 2026, as is young halfback Lachlan Ilias, whose season was cut well short by a nasty broken leg in April.
Former Rabbitoh and Panther Josh Mansour on the ABC NRL Daily podcast encouraged the Bunnies to exercise patience with Ilias, who is only 24. But with Bennett back at the helm, time is of the essence.
Souths infamously wouldn't offer Adam Reynolds the extra year he was looking for in 2021, precipitating the half's departure to Brisbane, and are about to face an eerily similar predicament.
While Walker turns 35 in January, there's nothing to suggest he's slowing down. The Rabbitohs have some big calls to make.
Who enters the race for Sam Walker?
Even coming off an ACL injury, Walker is arguably the biggest November 1 domino.
Sam Walker will miss the start of 2025 after tearing his ACL late in the season. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
His current deal runs out at the end of next season and as he's still in his early 20s, he should demand extraordinary interest from rival teams.
Football departments should be looking well beyond the fact he's currently undergoing a rehabilitation process that will see him miss at least half of next season.
Reports indicate that the Roosters are close to a two-year extension, but if those talks linger to the back stretch of October, expect rivals to be circling.
Like Sexton, Walker is a Sunshine State product and multiple Queensland-based teams should be trying to move heaven and earth to accommodate this young star, if the Roosters fumble the ball.
Cashed-up Chooks
It's a running joke in rugby league that the Roosters can always find some room under their "salary sombrero", but having farewelled Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Joseph Manu, Joseph Sua'ali'i, Luke Keary and Sitili Tupouniua, there's no grey area around how much of a war chest the transitioning club is now sitting on.
Like Walker, captain James Tedesco isn't tied up beyond the 2025 season. The Roosters have a stack of work to do this off-season.
The Hunt is on
The Dragons and Ben Hunt could be on the verge of a messy divorce, after rumbles of unrest between the star half and coach Shane Flanagon escalated as the club's finals tilt fizzled out.
The Maroons representative has tried to exit once already and now enters the final year of his current deal.
There's no reason to think the 34-year-old doesn't have at least a couple of good years of footy left in him. The question is where.
King for hire
Clint Gutherson has worked his backside off for the Eels, but they are reportedly looking for a more explosive fullback. (AAP: NRL Photos/Scott Davis)
New reports suggest incoming Parramatta coach Jason Ryles has informed Clint Gutherson, who enters the final year of his contract, that he's free to talk to rival clubs. That implies he'd be able to void the final season of his current deal and make an immediate move.
The Eels are opting to look at younger fullback alternatives as they rebuild, but other clubs will surely see some value in King Gutho, who only just turned 30 and plays the game with unrivalled heart and effort.
Cronulla's crunch time
Coming off a solid campaign that went all the way to the preliminary finals, the Sharks are in a position of strength.
The club should have no issues convincing its uncontracted players that things are heading in the right direction, with the arrival of prop Addin Fonua-Blake from the Warriors this off-season adding even more optimism.
Nicho Hynes is locked in, but coach Craig Fitzgibbon and his football department will need to determine who partners Hynes longer-term. Braydon Trindall enjoyed a noteworthy 2024, but utility Daniel Atkinson also proved his worth, given a chance when Hynes was injured.
And on top of Fitgibbon's halves dilemma, fullbacks Will Kennedy and Kade Dykes are also unsigned from 2026. Young gun Liam Ison is also emerging, making this a positional battle to pay close attention to in the preseason.
The Sharks must also look to extend hard-running edge forward Briton Nikora, who enters the final year of his current contract.
The Knights' forward planning
Having just farewelled State of Origin prop Daniel Saifiti, Newcastle needs to consolidate its forward stocks.
The players on the verge of entering the open market include Adam Elliott, Dylan Lucas, Kai Pearce-Paul and Leo Thompson … and they're just the ones in the side's starting pack.
While Pearce-Paul only arrived from England a year ago, there are whispers the Broncos are interested. Lucas, like Pearce-Paul, is a talented young edge forward with an attacking upside that recruitment manager Peter O'Sullivan needs to prioritise.
Jacob Saifiti and Thomas Cant are the only recognised forwards signed beyond 2025, not including hookers.
There's talk Newcastle needs to find Kalyn Ponga more help in the form of a trusty halfback, should the team enter premiership calculations, but none of that matters if the pack can't hold its own.