RLW to wind up by Round 5

[Timmah]

RUGBY LEAGUE WEEK TO SHUT DOWN

By Matt Logue

Sad news with reports that Rugby League Week magazine is set to be wound up in the next few weeks.

The NRL is set to buy the Immortals concept from RLW, but the magazine itself, which has been published since 1970, will no longer be printed.

There will be three more issues with the round five publication to mark the last in its 46 year history.

Bauer Media executives informed RLW’s staff of the decision in a meeting on Thursday morning and it’s understood the magazine will stop printing from round 5 this season.

The decision to end publication of Rugby League Week ends 47 years of league scoops, insights and behind-the-scenes stories.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...a/news-story/54d19381bbe070692ddcfeb0dd473a7f

 

[Usain Bolt]

Hopefully that's the end of RLW Mole

 

[LESStar58]

What the?

Wasn't it the biggest selling sports publication in the country once upon a time?

 

[insert.pause]

it has a current weekly readership of 203,000.

The NRL should have bought the entire mag & published it electronically and make it part of the NRL Digital Pass.

The IP is worth something.

It was probably inevitable, but I thought Big League would go first, considering their reliance on team lists and the NRL wanting to change the day they are announced.

 

[Timmah]

it has a current weekly readership of 203,000.

The NRL should have bought the entire mag & published it electronically and make it part of the NRL Digital Pass.

The IP is worth something.

It was probably inevitable, but I thought Big League would go first, considering their reliance on team lists and the NRL wanting to change the day they are announced.

The NRL implemented the changes this year - Tuesday remains but as 21 man squads, reduced to 19 the day before and 17 an hour before. Not sure it will change again soon

 

[adamkungl]

Sad.

A lot of people are saying good riddance, it was shit anyway. If I didn't buy a mag 2 weeks back because there was an international story I wanted to read, I'd agree.

I think this view is based on their online content. RLW Online is so incredibly low quality that it makes people not buy the magazine. Based on the online 'mag', I assumed the paper version was similarly trash. Turns out it isn't.

Buy a copy on its way out, you might be surprised and saddened by what we've lost.

 

[Russell Crowe's Band]

well I bought the GF ones and the one after the premiership etc,
a sad day for Rugby League

 

[Twizzle]

I'd like to think it is the end of the Mole but he'll probabaly pop up some where else.

 

[Fufu Andronez]

I literally just bought one this morning and used to buy it religiously a couple of years back..

Sad but probably inevitable unfortunately

 

[Todd Hoffman]

Thats a shame. I always buy it and I look forward to the Summer special in the off season.

 

[DiegoNT]

I brought one about a week ago, first time in years. I used to buy it religiously but then it lost quality badly. No interesting articles, no quality columnist, you could flip through it in 10 minutes, every week was the same

 

[Captain Apollo]

I stopped buying Rugby League Week years ago. They took quite a bit out of the actual printed version and just stuck it on their website (e.g. match stats, match reviews, point leaders etc) and didn't replace it with anything interesting. The articles seemed to get worse with offering very little insight or actual news, and in fact they were so out of date the articles to not be worth reading. I found it not worth buying so I stopped.

I'm one who still buys Big League when I go to the ground. I appreciate having the team list in it as I prefer something not reliant on a screen to read.

 

[axl rose]

Surprised they held out this long. Remember those RLW Summer Specials they use to release in the 90s, they were quality/huge.

 

[Perth Red]

Shame, used to be my on the plane read. Inevitable I guess, news is instant now so any print media is going to be behind.

 

[Russell Crowe's Band]

I have a rugby league week poster at my desk.
it will live on

 

[Captain Apollo]

The following is from the NRL's website -

NRL to acquire Immortals rights
Thu 09 Mar, 2017, 5:10pm
Media Release, NRL

The NRL said today it has agreed to purchase the rights to the Immortals.

CEO Todd Greenberg said today the NRL would acquire the rights from Bauer Media Pty Ltd, which has owned the Immortals trade mark.

He said it made sense for the NRL, as the operators of the game, to own and operate the Immortals awards.

"There is no higher honour in the game for a player than to be named an Immortal," Mr Greenberg said.

"The fact that only eight players have been given the honour in the game's history demonstrates how rare that someone is declared an Immortal.

"There have been no players added to the Immortals list since 2012 but we plan to reinvigorate the award to recognise the very best our game has seen."

The current Immortals are Clive Churchill, Bob Fulton, Reg Gasnier, Johnny Raper, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson and Andrew Johns.

Mr Greenberg said the move to acquire the Immortals follows the NRL securing the rights to the Dally M Awards.

"We believe that, as the controlling body of the game, it is important that we run the player awards and the acquisition of the Immortals helps us achieve that goal."

Mr Greenberg said the NRL would also acquire the Rugby League Week trademark and the magazine's historical archive.

"We are pleased that the NRL has been able to keep these items within the game because it has been such a great magazine which has played a key role in the history of Rugby League," he said.

So the NRL will now own: The Immortals Award, the "Rugby League Week" trademark, and RLW's historical archive.

 

[Brutus]

Bought the mag religiously as a kid in the 80's and up until Super League. Have purchased about 5 copies since.
Times have changed.

 

[Canard]

Pre Internet it was the Bible of the game. It's gone the way of most print media though.

My family used to read it religiously in the 80s and never miss a week.

The Immortals being owned by the NRL(surely ARLC by the way??) is an unexpected bonus.

 

[Last Week]

It may live on through the NRL. Good move buying the immortals, the archive and the RLW trademark.

 

[Brutus]

I still have a lot of my old mags and have purchased many 70's and 80's copies off ebay.

If someone handed me a random copy of RLW, from say 1977, I'd probably read it front to back. I would skim through a modern day edition in about 30 seconds.

RLW will always live on. Those 70's and 80's mags are RL gold.