ANDY MOULSDALE insists that North Wales Crusaders will do ‘everything they can’ to support John Cookson in his recovery from a heart attack.

Cookson, 32, returned to his Lancashire home on Tuesday after spending three nights in a Blackpool hospital.

The Cru forward and father-of-two had complained of arm and chest pains following the defeat to Toronto Wolfpack on Good Friday.

He was subsequently taken to hospital by ambulance where doctors confirmed he had suffered a heart attack.

Now, with his playing days likely to be over, Crusaders general manager Moulsdale says that he and the club’s players will rally around their team-mate.

He said: “We’ll do everything we can to help John, he just needs to let us know. Obviously he’ll need time to recover and he won’t be able to go back to work for some time.

“It’s great that he’s back at home with his family now. 

“Myself and a few of the lads have spoken to him and we’ve had lots of text messages from him to let us know how he’s doing.

“He’s got a really quirky sense of humour and a lot of the messages we’ve had back from him have been upbeat. 

“He says he’s doing well and we’re all hoping he can continue his recovery from home with the support of his family.

“But all the lads know how tough its going to be and we’ve told him that we’ll do whatever we can to help out.”

Player welfare became a prominent issue in rugby league two years ago following the death of Keighley Cougars scrum-half Danny Jones.

The 29-year-old Welsh international died following a cardiac arrest during a game against London Skolars.

His death prompted a successful campaign for compulsory cardiac screening to be extended from the Super League to Championship and League One sides.

Mouldsdale added: “Cardiac screening is now mandatory for all League One clubs. All of our players have gone through the process which is carried out externally by the RFL.

“Obviously we hope this never happens to any player and there is no strict club policy in place in how we as a club deal with situations like this. That’s why most players will have their own personal insurance policies for the injuries they might suffer.

“But John knows that he has the full backing of everyone here and we’ll do whatever we can.”