November 1 is just days away, and while all attention will turn towards those players who can officially sign with new clubs for the 2024 season, there are still a handful of players without a deal for 2023.

Among those players are a small list of players who the majority would view as something of a surprise to still not have a contract locked up for next season.

RELATED: Full list of off-contract players

Only the Canberra Raiders, Gold Coast Titans and St George Illawarra Dragons have zero players remaining off-contract, although some players - such as Cooper Johns at the Melbourne Storm and Albert Kelly at the Brisbane Broncos - have been informed their services won't be required from 2022.

One of those players also features on this list, while the remainder are still fighting for their NRL futures.

Here are the top five players still off-contract for 2023 noting that, with November almost upon us and clubs required to have filled most of their roster in just a few short days, most talent has now been snapped up.

2. Matthew Lodge (Sydney Roosters)

Reports in recent days suggest Lodge is open to the idea of taking a fairly substantial pay cut to stay at the Sydney Roosters, and who could possibly blame him?

The tri-colours might just provide it too given what he was able to provide to the side after his messy mid-season exit from the New Zealand Warriors and subsequential signing to the Roosters, although it took some weeks before his minimum signing value could fit into the tri-colours' cap.

Still, once he did join, he was phenomenal.

Bringing aggression, size and strength to the Roosters' forward pack, he joined a rotation with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Lindsay Collins and Siosiua Taukeiaho, although the quartet barely played together thanks to injury and suspension.

The loss of Taukeiaho hasn't been effectively replaced yet by Trent Robinson's side, and it would be hardly surprising to see a deal done to keep Lodge at Bondi, although chances are other clubs will have a look at the prop as pre-season kicks off in the coming weeks for all those players not involved in the Rugby League World Cup.