Cougars captain backs calls for Rugby League Championship screening

Keighley captain James Feather is backing calls for regular heart screening to be introduced into the Championship after the death of Danny Jones.

Jones, a 29-year-old Wales international, collapsed and died of suspectedcardiac arrest during Sunday's League One match at London Skolars.

Although regular screening takes place in Super League, it is not mandatory in the second and third tiers of professional rugby league and that needs tochange, according to Feather.

"They come down here to train four nights a week after work and it's a lot ontheir bodies," Feather told the BBC. "You don't know what underlying problems they might have until something like this happens.

"The Rugby League definitely needs to stand up and try and try to putsomething in place to make sure players are looked after."

Tony Tonks, a 30-year-old forward with Sheffield Eagles, has been pushing for Electrocardiography (ECG) to be made compulsory through the Yorkshire-based charity Heartbeat of Sport, of which he recently became chief executive.

"I have been with the charity from the start and, from the moment I gotinvolved, I knew what our goal would be, to make ECG screening compulsory in all levels of all sports and making sure these clubs have the right equipment, should the worst happen," Tonks said.

"In February 2014, we screened Halifax, which was the first championship club to ever be screened, and I said Heartbeat of Sport would like to take this further in the future to make sure every semi-professional club and amateur clubs get the chance to get the easy and simple test that takes just 10 minutes and helps save the lives of sports men and women lives who are at greater risk of cardiac problems.

"For the last two years I have been trying to stress the need for screening,defibrillators and CPR training throughout the rugby league community and all sporting clubs.

"Testing players for cardiac problems, I believe, should be done annually. Asthe standards of the competition goes up each year, the pressure on a player's performance and training increases.

"The harder the players works, the more pressure the heart is under, eachyear, with minimal recovery in the off season until the competition startsagain.

"I also believe that, after recent tragic events, an annual test will be peaceof mind for the player and their family. We cannot 100 per cent ensure that acardiac arrest will not happen, even after an ECG, but it will almost certainlygo a long way in helping reduce risk."

Sheffield head coach Mark Aston echoed his player's call for mandatoryscreening in the Championship.

"It is time now for every rugby league player to be checked.," Aston told TheSheffield Star.

"Tony is very angry about it because he has spoken to the RFL previously about having this introduced. It is something that Tony has believed in passionately and this could have been averted."

Jones is the second rugby league player in just over six years to die aftercollapsing during a match.

Wakefield forward Leon Walker, who was 20, fell ill during a Wildcats reserve game with Celtic Crusaders in Maesteg in March 2009. It was later discovered that he had an undiagnosed heart defect and a coroner ruled that he died from natural causes.

Just six months before then, Wakefield's Cook Island international Adam Watene, 31, died after collapsing during a training session.

Heart of Sport's medical director Dr Jeremy Butts said: "Many heart conditions are genetic and so may either be present at birth or develop early in life.

"Despite this, many of the conditions may give rise to no symptoms with thefirst presentation being collapse or cardiac arrest.

"Some individuals will experience symptoms such as light-headedness, chest tightness or excessive shortness of breath, but not realise theirsignificance."

Tonks says his team have spent the last two years helping grass-roots clubs, schools, community centres, gymnastics clubs and golf clubs install at least one defibrillator on their premises and have offered CPR training and basic life-saving skills.