Tony Halmshaw: Tribute to Dewsbury-born former Halifax and Great Britain loose forward who has died, aged 77

Born in Dewsbury, April 1946, Tony played for local amateur side Shaw Cross before signing for Halifax, where he excelled as a classy, ball-playing loose forward.

He won representative honour for Yorkshire in the former County Championship, then played for Great Britain against New Zealand in 1971.

In total he made 190 appearances, including in the 1971-72 Players Number 6 Trophy victory over Wakefield Trinity at Odsal, scoring 18 tries and 8 goals.

He moved on to Rochdale Hornets in 1973 before joining Dewsbury RLFC as an assistant player coach at the back end of his career.

Tributes for the former player have poured in on Facebook.

One post said: “Tony was a fabulous player and, more importantly, a great man.”

Another said: “Another legend gone to the stadium in the sky.”

And another said: “Really sad to hear this. Tony was a lovely man.”