''Big League'' is the official magazine of the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

. Its predecessor, ''The Rugby League News'', was first published in 1920; in 1974 it was rebranded as ''Big League''. In 2020, due to the effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Aust ...

and the initial suspension of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

, production of the magazine was suspended and has not resumed; leaving the game without an official program. The magazine served as a game-day program, containing team line-ups, stats and feature stories. It went on sale every Thursday at newsagents and exclusively at all active NRL grounds on weekends. Since 2005 it had been published by

News Magazines A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...

; previously it was published by Text Magazines and

Pacific Magazines Pacific Magazines was a magazine publisher operating in Australia owned by Seven West Media. In March 2020, it was acquired by Are Media, Bauer Media Australia in April 2020. In June 2020, Mercury Capital acquired Pacific Magazines as part of i ...

. At the time of its cessation of publishing in 2020, the editor of the magazine was Maria Tsialis and the sub-editor was David Piepers. Senior writer was Pamela Whaley and staff writers were Michael Blok and Ben Lonergan. Craig Loughlin-Smith was the art director, who had been with the title since 1999. Along with the 30 weekly issues of the magazine, ''Big League'' also offered the following publications: A5-sized Season Guide, Season Preview, 100-page Grand Final Souvenir, Year in Review issue, State of Origin and Test souvenir programs and the Official Rugby League Annual, compiled by rugby league historian David Middleton. Shortly after the magazine being withdrawn from publication in May 2020, a free, unofficial weekly magazine and match program was made available online through fan-run rugby league website LeagueUnlimited.com. Named 'The Front Row', the unofficial magazine continues to be published online weekly during the NRL season. Prior to the 2024 NRL Grand Final, the official NRL site published a video indicating the magazine would be revived for the marquee fixture to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Big League name, while also indicating the magazine is to be revived in 2025. This revival was confirmed 26th February 2025, when the NRL announced a digital subscription model. Along with a weekly digital magazine, there will be 6 special edition physical copy magazines produced each year for landmark occasions, including the annual Las Vegas season kick off games, the three State Of Origin games each year, the NRL’s annual Magic Round event, and the Grand Final.

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* {{NRL 1920 establishments in Australia Sports magazines published in Australia Weekly magazines published in Australia Magazines established in 1920 Magazines published in Sydney News Corp Australia National Rugby League Rugby football magazines Rugby league mass media

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