A RUGBY league club has paid tribute to a player killed following a car crash in Burtonwood at the weekend.

Swinton Lions were rocked by the sudden death of forward Dana Wilson, a Cook Islands international, who was a member of their promotion-winning team in Championship 1 this year.

The father-of-three, aged 28, was driving a silver Fiat Punto along Lumber Lane at 3.30am on Sunday when the car left the road near to the junction with Forshaw Lane and hit a tree.

Swinton chairman John Kidd said: “We are all stunned. Dana was a great personality who has made a massive contribution to the success the club has achieved this season.

“He was a big character both on and off the pitch and our sympathy goes out to his family both here and in New Zealand.”

Dana, who lived with his wife Kirsten and three children in Newton-le-Willows, was born in Auckland but had played in England for the past six years.

He represented New Zealand at under 16 and under 18 level before switching allegiance to the Cook Islands, where his parents were born and he played in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers for them.

Anyone with information about the crash should contact police on 0845 458 0000, quoting incident number 312 of September 4.