Frank Foster played rugby league with and against some of the best in the game during the 1960s and 70s.

Leading the tributes were two of his best friends from West Cumbria, Howard 'Smiler' Allen and John 'Spanky' McFarlane. Both played alongside Foster and Allen as a player when the man himself was coach at Barrow.

Allen said: “I played with him and against him. He was as tough as they come, he was 100 per cent as a player and then as a coach. You couldn't pull the wool over his eyes, he was very switched on. He was a character and a great leader on the field.”

Allen, who scored a dramatic late try at a snowbound Headingley in 1981 against Hull to book a final place in the John Player Trophy added: "Frank would never ask you to do what he couldn't do himself. He was tough as a player and tough as a coach, he will be sadly missed.”

'Spanky' McFarlane, Foster's partner in crime, said: “What a shock and great shame, he was a great player and led from the front.

"He was a tough guy and even as a youngster coming into the professional game, he would sound out the hard men of the opposition. He loved to take them on never took a backward step."

Former dual international and the BBC's voice of rugby league for many years Ray French said: “I played against Frank many times, he was as hard as they come. He played it hard and was very competitive for the full 80 minutes. He was a very physical forward who enjoyed the rough and tumble of the game.”

Landlord of the Kings in Hawcoat Steve Hogan said: "Frank was a very good player and could drop goals when needed. He was classy and was brilliant with ball in hand.

"I remember when Barrow played New Zealand and he had the craft of slipping the ball in the tackle and one such pass sent 19-year-old John Cunningham under the posts.

He was very strict as a coach and he would make us run up to Roanhead to train and then run back, no bus trip and that paid dividends because we were very fit."

I myself look back to the day I met Frank and he shook my hand. I cringed, as I thought he had broke it. His hands were massive so I can imagine what players came up against when taking on the big man.