{"id":500307,"date":"2026-02-24T05:23:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T05:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/500307\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T05:23:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T05:23:36","slug":"western-weekender-launches-massive-rugby-league-coverage-for-2026-season-the-western-weekender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/500307\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Weekender launches massive rugby league coverage for 2026 season \u2022 The Western Weekender"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Penrith coach Ivan Cleary chats to Western Weekender journalists at the Panthers season launch.
\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Western Weekender this week officially launches its 2026 NRL coverage, with a focus on the Penrith Panthers.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Weekender\u2019s 35th birthday in March, the media company continues its commitment to rugby league with unrivalled coverage of the Panthers.<\/p>\n

Headlining it all is the return of the Extra Time pull-out feature, published in The Western Weekender every week.<\/p>\n

Extra Time is published in print every Thursday, and is available as a stand-alone digital edition.<\/p>\n

SUBSCRIBE TO THE DIGITAL EDITION HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

Celebrating his 25th year in rugby league media, Troy Dodds will write the main match preview every week.<\/p>\n

Nathan Taylor will talk to the players with exclusive one-on-one interviews that give locals an insight into their NRL heroes.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nathan Taylor will chat with all the big names this season. Photo: Melinda Jane.<\/p>\n

Emily Chate also joins the Extra Time team this year, with a new feature that delves into players\u2019 lives away from football.<\/p>\n

Peter Lang returns with Lang on League, The Masked Panther is back and a slate of new content is also planned, keeping the weekly publication fresh.<\/p>\n

You can also follow the fortunes of local business owners through the Weekender\u2019s famous celebrity tipping competition.<\/p>\n

The first edition of Extra Time will be out on Thursday, March 5.<\/p>\n

Before that, this Thursday the Weekender publishes a special 20-page season preview wraparound feature. The feature includes special interviews with players, a detailed season preview and plenty of analysis. You\u2019ll also find a handy season draw and player profiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur print coverage this year is better than ever. We know how much people love getting their hands on a weekly guide to the footy,\u201d said Managing Editor, Troy Dodds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t wait to bring readers the latest Panthers news and information, and we thank all of the great advertisers and partners who make it possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also back in 2026 is the Tension\u2019s Running High podcast, hosted by Troy Dodds and Nathan Taylor.<\/p>\n

SUBSCRIBE ON SPOTIFY HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, iHeart podcasts and directly on the Weekender website, Tension\u2019s Running High is released every Wednesday and includes the latest Panthers insight, player interviews and more.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nathan Taylor and Troy Dodds host the Tension\u2019s Running High podcast. Photo: Melinda Jane.<\/p>\n

And online, the Weekender will continue to be the home of the Panthers with breaking news across the company\u2019s social media pages and at http:\/\/www.westernweekender.com.au<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Masked Panther goes online first at 7am every Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting year for the Penrith Panthers. We can\u2019t wait to cover every bit of it,\u201d Dodds said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Weekender Newsroom<\/p>\n

This post has been published by the team in our newsroom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penrith coach Ivan Cleary chats to Western Weekender journalists at the Panthers season launch. The Western Weekender this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-500307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}