Johnathan Thurston tops the list of playmakers coming off contract at end of 2013

THE best NRL coaches will tell you it's impossible to win a premiership without a champion playmaker.

THE best NRL coaches will tell you it's impossible to win a premiership without a champion playmaker.

If you are lacking a gun halfback or five-eighth, you might as well set fire to the $13 million it costs to run an NRL club each year.

As of November 1, five of the most significant players on the open market for the 2014 season wear the No. 6 or No. 7 jerseys - and you can bet they will all command big dollars.

The Sunday Telegraph runs the rule over the playmakers.

JOHNATHAN THURSTON - Betting has been suspended as to whether Thurston is the NRL's leading game breaker. But what is still up for debate is how much his next contract is going to be worth. If Greg Inglis has signed at the Rabbitohs as the NRL's first $1 million player, Thurston might just be able to top that. We're tipping he will quit Townsville and return to a Sydney-based club at the end of next season.

Todd Carney

TODD CARNEY - All things being equal, Carney probably owes it to Cronulla to remain in the Shire after the Sharks tossed him a lifeline when every other club passed him over when he parted ways with the Roosters. Tore his Achilles tendon in the finals last September, a nasty and unusual injury for NRL players. Still yet to consistently produce the form that saw him crowned the Dally M Medallist in 2010, yet even with his off-field track record Carney is still guaranteed to attract plenty of suitors.

Mitchell Pearce

MITCHELL PEARCE - The first thing new Roosters chief operating officer Brian Canavan did when he arrived back at the club's Allianz Stadium headquarters was let Pearce feel a little bit of love. After a stand-off with previous coach Brian Smith, the Roosters wanted to show Pearce they had backed him. Despite being a regular for NSW, Pearce is yet to deliver on his precocious talent. He will still be in hot demand purely because there are only a very limited number of quality halves available.

Josh Reynolds

JOSH REYNOLDS - The Bulldogs five-eighth is a gun-in-the-making. Reynolds still has plenty of kinks in his game, but that won't stop a host of rival clubs queuing up to try to poach him away from Belmore. He is a fiery pivot and is always in the game.

Jamie Soward

JAMIE SOWARD -  Has lost his way since super coach Wayne Bennett left the Dragons and has a huge amount of ground to make up. It's hard to believe he was the Blues' Origin five-eighth for the entire series last year.