Huxley has Tumour

Wallabies and Brumbies back Julian Huxley will spend the next week with medical specialists after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour on Monday.

Huxley delivered the news to shattered teammates on Tuesday, with Brumbies skipper Stirling Mortlock saying the whole province was right behind the 28-year-old. "It's devastating news for Hux," Mortlock told ABC radio.

"Everyone feels just so much for him. He's just held in such high regard for what he's done over the last number of years."

Huxley debuted for the Wallabies last year against Wales and went on to play nine Tests.
He began his Super rugby career in 2002 with the Brumbies before heading to the Queensland Reds. Huxley returned to Canberra in 2007.

Coach Laurie Fisher said Huxley has shown amazing character in receiving such awful news.
"The composure and resolve of Hux in the way that he delivered the news to the team ... just showed a strength of character which I think is certainly a credit to him and his family," Fisher said.

"To have an astounding young man who has some wonderful attributes in his own right, not just as a footballer, it's not the type of news you want to hear with a 28-year-old who is ostensibly in great health."

It is believed the tumour is benign but more tests are required.
Brumbies chief executive officer Andrew Fagan said some of those tests would be carried out over the next week.

"He's just, as I said yesterday, going through the process of gathering all the information from the specialists he needs and over the course of the next week or so we'll be in a position to comment further," Fagan told reporters.

Huxley has ruled himself out for the rest of the Super 14 season but has not ruled out playing rugby again. The tumour was discovered after Huxley was injured during Saturday's clash against Queensland.

Initial scans cleared Huxley but follow-up precautionary scans on Monday discovered the tumour sitting on top of his brain. Fisher thought Huxley may have suffered a neck injury when he began convulsing on the ground just minutes into the match.

"It appeared to me something that may well be season-ending at that point in time," Fisher said.
"As things unfolded ... the story became very different." Fisher now faces the task of refocusing the Brumbies ahead of Friday night's match against the NSW Waratahs in Sydney.

Story courtesy of TheAge.com.au