FORMER England forward Adrian Morley piled praise on rugby league yesterday for tackling mental-health issues head on.

Round 25 of the Super League is being dedicated to the charity State of Mind in an attempt to raise awareness of psychological problems in the sport.

More than 1,000 players, coaches and support staff have attended sessions organised by the charity, which was established in 2011 after the death of former Wigan and England hooker Terry Newton.

Danny Sculthorpe, a former player with Wigan, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Castleford who contemplated committing suicide after suffering a career-threatening injury in 2010, is part of a team that has travelled more than 10,000 miles around Britain so far to deliver its message.

Morley will be at Thursday’s game between his old club Warrington and Huddersfield to mark the start of the fourth State of Mind round in his role as ambassador for the charity.

“Unfortunately it took the tragic passing of Terry Newton for everyone to take on board that there could a problem for players and ex-players,” Morley said.

“There’s a lot of issues which go on in rugby league which not many people know about, especially post-playing with depression and that kind of thing.

“I think it’s showing the way for other sports, to take on board what we’re doing and get it involved in their sports too.”