A leading heart charity has echoed calls from the Keighley captain, James Feather, for cardiac screening to be introduced at all levels of rugby league after the tragic death of Danny Jones.
Jones, a 29-year-old Wales international, collapsed and died of a suspected cardiac arrest during the League 1 match at London Skolars on Sunday.
Although screening takes place in Super League, it is not mandatory in the second and third tiers of professional rugby league and that needs to change, according to Feather.
“[Players] come down here to train four nights a week after work and it’s a lot on their bodies,” Feather told the BBC. “You don’t know what underlying problems they might have until something like this happens.
“The Rugby [Football] League definitely needs to stand up and try to put something in place to make sure players are looked after.”
Tony Tonks, a forward with the Championship side Sheffield Eagles, is also the chief executive of the charity Heartbeat of Sport, who are campaigning for electrocardiography (ECG) to be made compulsory at all levels of the sport.
He said that although annual cardiac testing for players would not completely eliminate the risk of the worst happening, it would almost certainly help to lower the risk. “Testing players for cardiac problems, I believe, should be done annually,” Tonks told the Guardian.
“As the standard of the competition goes up each year, the pressure on players’ performances and training increases. The harder the players work, the more pressure the heart is under each year, with minimal recovery in the off-season.
“I also believe that after recent tragic events, an annual test will be piece of mind for players and families. We cannot 100% ensure a cardiac arrest will not happen, even after an ECG, but it will almost certainly go a long way in helping to reduce risk.”
He was supported by the Warrington coach, Tony Smith, who has also coached in the lower levels of rugby league. “It’ll happen; we can’t leave it now,” Smith said.
“I’ve got no doubt that there’ll be some moves and some pushes behind the scenes now. It’s only three years ago we didn’t know too much about it in Super League, before we understood the worth in the investment.
“We’ve got to come up with some provisions and ways of doing it at all levels, but I’m sure as a sport we can do that.”
The comments came as Keighley confirmed on Tuesday their game against Coventry will go ahead this Sunday, at the request of the Jones family. The Keighley chairman, Gary Fawcett, said a portion of gate receipts will be added to the fund for Jones’s family, which stands at over £47,000.
“I can confirm our head coach, Paul March, has confirmed that Danny’s family have requested for the game to go ahead this Sunday,” Fawcett said. “The club will contribute one third of the gate monies from Sunday to Liz and the twins, and all fundraising within the ground that day will be exclusively for the benevolent fund that has been set up.”
