Danny Jones: Rugby league half-back who became an accomplished goal-kicker and was loved as an effervescent presence

Jones dies from an apparent cardiac arrest during Keighley's match

Jones fights off a New Zealand challenge playing for Wales at Wembley in 2011 (Getty Images)

An apparent cardiac arrest during Keighley's match at the London Skolars added the name of Danny Jones to the thankfully short list of rugby league players to be fatally stricken on the field of play. Jones was helped from the field at the New River Stadium in the opening minutes of the Championship 1 match against the London Skolars and was at first thought to be suffering from concussion. He was taken by air ambulance to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, but pronounced dead.

The reaction of what is sometimes termed the Rugby League Family showed the affection in which the 29-year-old Welsh international stand-off was held. His club described him as "the life and soul of the dressing room" and "a natural leader".

Born in Halifax, Jones signed for his home-town club in 2003, but played only one Super League game for them before moving to the Keighley Cougars. He instantly became a firm fans' favourite there, noted for his unstinting effort and enthusiasm, laced with the cheek you expect from a good half-back. His first stint with the Cougars saw him achieve the rare feat of playing and scoring in every game in the 2009 season.

In all, he played 153 games for Keighley, scoring 33 tries and kicking 444 goals and seven drop-goals. He had a season back at Halifax in 2011, finishing with 54 appearances, 17 tries, 132 goals and two drop-goals for them.

Those figures show what an accomplished goal-kicker he was over his 12-year career, but his impact on the clubs he played for went far beyond those statistics. Everyone who played with and against Jones commented on his effervescent personality.

"He was the one who, when he walked into a room, you looked for to make you laugh," said another Halifax-born scrum-half and near contemporary, Luke Robinson, now with Huddersfield. The former player and now referee, Jamie Bloem, knew him in his early days at Halifax and described him as "always happy, always looking on the brighter side of life. He was a funny guy, always ready to make people smile as they came in to training in the morning."

Bloem refereed Jones in what turned out to be his last full game, against the North Wales Crusaders, in Championship 1 the previous weekend. Not only was he his normal impudent self, but he also kicked the last-minute drop-goal that gave Keighley a 23-22 victory.

Thanks to family connections, Jones played 12 times for Wales, making his debut against Italy in Wrexham in 2010. He played in the qualifiers for the 2013 World Cup and then in the tournament itself. The former Welsh coach, Clive Griffiths, was another to describe him as the life and soul of the party, but he added that Jones was "a really astute player".

As recently as last autumn, a successor to Griffiths as Welsh coach, John Kear, tried to persuade him to make himself available for the European Championships. Jones declined because his wife, Lizzie, was pregnant with the couple's twins, Bobby and Chloe.

The situation of those infants undoubtedly had an influence on the response of the rugby league community to the tragedy. Within a couple of days more than £60,000 had been donated, with the help of a gesture from Huddersfield's Craig Huby and other professionals in Super League, who shaved off their trademark beards to raise extra funds. Other indications of how highly regarded Jones was within the game are that Keighley are retiring his No 6 shirt and are renaming their main stand at Cougar Park in his honour.

The Jones family asked that the game against the Coventry Bears a week after his death should go ahead. The Cougars were to donate a third of the gate takings from that match to the fund.

Tragedies which draw the tight-knit community of rugby league even tighter are mercifully rare. The last professional player to collapse and die during a game in this country was Wakefield's Leon Walker, in a reserve game against the Celtic Crusaders at Maesteg in 2009.

DAVE HADFIELD

Daniel Jones, rugby league player: born Halifax 6 March 1986; married Lizzie (one daughter, one son); died London 3 May 2015.