A surprise player has emerged on rugby league's open market - the NRL.

As club officials and players' managers were locked in meetings ahead of this weekend's June 30 anti-tampering deadline, chief executive David Gallop revealed the NRL and current naming rights sponsor Telstra had agreed the league should test the open market with their six-year deal set to expire this season.

"Both us and Telstra have agreed that it's appropriate for us to test the value of our properties in the market, that's what we'll do, obviously looking to maximise the opportunities for the game and for our commercial partners," Gallop told Channel Nine.

"It's a big opportunity for the game and a big opportunity for a commercial partner to get involved with these two properties (naming and new media rights)."

Gallop said he hoped a new agreement would be secured in the coming months, and added Telstra was not completely out of the picture.

"We'll definitely continue to talk to Telstra, but both Telstra and us have recognised the need for us to test our value in the market place given the success the game has had since the last deal was struck," Gallop told AAP.

"There's no doubt the game has grown tremendously since we negotiated our last sponsorship and new media deal (in 2000), and we look forward to a new arrangement that maximises benefits for the game and our partners."

Gallop did not want to speculate on what price the NRL could fetch for the multi-million dollar deal.

On the process ahead, he said: "In some instances we'll approach companies and in others they'll approach us.

"I think it's a fantastic opportunity."

With the anti-tampering deadline set to expire on midnight Saturday, one of the last remaining big-name players coming off-contract in 2006 officially removed his name from the NRL open market on Thursday.

Kangaroos and Queensland fullback Karmichael Hunt has extended his tenure at Brisbane for another three years, ensuring the Broncos escaped a bidding war for the 19-year-old.

In other player moves, promising St George Illawarra centre Daryl Millard signed with the Bulldogs for three years, while Wests Tigers backrower Sam Harris was granted an early release - more than two years before the end of his current contract - to return to rugby union and Super 14 franchise the NSW Waratahs.

Several representative players will likely remain on the transfer list beyond Saturday's midnight deadline - including Bulldogs duo Roy Asotasi and Nate Myles.

But Newcastle backrower Steve Simpson, who will officially be able to negotiate with other clubs after next week's Origin decider, is unlikely to test his value with the Knights confident of retaining the Test and NSW representative.

Simpson was not due to come off contract until next year, but had a clause written into his current deal allowing for a release if he played six Origin games post 2003. Wednesday's Origin clash in Melbourne will be his sixth.

"He has a re-negotiation clause, which has been activated, but we're talking to Steven's management, and we expect he'll be staying at Newcastle," said Knights operations manager Stephen Crowe.

"I can't see him going anywhere else."

Hunt, currently sidelined with a foot injury after making both his Test and Queensland State of Origin debuts this season, admitted he could have got a "lot more money" elsewhere.

But despite the lure of joining a cashed-up Sydney club, he said leaving the Broncos had hardly entered his mind.

"I'm mature enough to realise the guys who've gone to Sydney have been unhappy and have come back," he said.

"You can waste a few seasons.

"For all I've done, I'm still learning and (Brisbane coach) Wayne Bennett is still the best teacher there is."

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