Big League

Big League was the official magazine of the National Rugby League. 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 and the initial suspension of the 2020 NRL 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; previously it was published by Text Magazines and Pacific Magazines.

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.