The National Rugby League will commission a research project into the "effects of concussion on its players" as Wests Tigers backrower Liam Fulton on Tuesday received medical advice that will "help determine whether he can play the game again," according to Stuart Honeysett of THE AUSTRALIAN. Fulton had brain scans in Melbourne last week after being "knocked out four times while playing for the Tigers this season." There has been speculation Fulton, 29, could be "stood down for the rest of the year and his career could be over." Fulton could become the "second professional athlete this week to walk away from his code due to repeated head knocks" after Australian Football League side Brisbane Lions player Jonathan Brown retired on Monday. The issue is now "set to be the subject of a study commissioned by the NRL's Rugby League Research Board." The board has a "number of proposals before it, including one working with the medical research institute at Sydney University which would use MRI scans to look at brain cellular changes in players affected by concussion." Another from the brain institute, "also at Sydney University, wants to look at long-term effects" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 6/25).
