But although Kronfeld agrees the superstar winger was paid well during his playing career and since, it was nowhere near the multi-millions of dollars that some are claiming.
READ MORE: Jonah Lomu died broke - quest to help sons
"I think some people need to understand that during his playing career Jonah didn't make anywhere near the money they imagine he did," said Kronfeld, who was Lomu's roommate with the All Blacks in 1995, including the World Cup in South Africa, after team management decided to pair the shy Tongan giant with a senior All Black. The pair became good friends and Kronfeld had a unique insight into his team-mate.
"People read what Richie McCaw and Dan Carter make playing for the All Blacks and assume those figures are what Jonah was on from the mid-1990s on but that's just not right," he said today as details emerged about the trust being set up to look after Lomu's two young sons.
"That sort of money wasn't around for any players in our era, including Jonah.
"He made good money from playing at the time but not what people assumed it to be. It was never millions of dollars. And you also need to remember his playing career was not that long due to his illness. He never had the lengthy playing career of other guys and that would have limited his earning potential further."
Kronfeld, who was one of the former All Blacks who performed a touching haka at the Lomu memorial service at Eden Park, also pointed out that there were many lucrative endorsement opportunities during his playing career that Lomu was not able to take up.
"This is not a criticism of the New Zealand Rugby Union, but there were quite strong restrictions in place during his career over what an All Black could earn from sponsors outside of the union's. I'm sure Jonah could have done a lot more endorsement work and earned more money without those restrictions. But those restrictions were in place to protect All Blacks sponsors and were understandable."
Kronfeld also said Lomu's earning potential after retirement was also affected by his health problems, which prevented him from committing huge hours to boosting his finances.
"When you consider how long he's had to have health treatment since retiring and the drain of that on both his time to do other things and his finances, it must have been very difficult for him. It's a very sad situation for all involved."
In an interview with Mike Hosking, NZ Rugby Players Association chief executive Rob Nichol said they were not asking ordinary mums and dads to donate money: "One of the things that is important is that we're not telling you to donate. If you're an organisation in London or the UK or France who has had interactions with Jonah and you appreciated what he did then you might want to step up right now.
"We're not telling people to donate - this is an option - the concept of mums and dads having to fork out money if they can't afford it - we're not pitching for that whatsoever."
When asked about the social media photos of Lomu laden with shopping bags on what looked like a very expensive holiday, Nichol said: "Having been up at the Rugby World Cup I saw exactly how it worked - there was so much work up there for icons of the game - whether it be Jonah Lomu or any past player.
"All of them were well looked after and were flown business class - they all get the opportunity to extend with family because they are actually taken away from their families to do the work dutring the Rugby World Cup which is a long period of time and they were simply returning home."
How you can help
DONATE: Those wanting to donate to the trust set up for Jonah Lomu's sons can do so through the official jonahlomulegacy.com website or through the lomulegacy.com supporting website, powered by NZME's GrabOne. NZME is the parent company of the NZ Herald and NewstalkZB. Donations can also be made through any branch of the ASB Bank or by online banking to the Jonah Lomu Legacy Trust, account number 12-3647-0022925-00.
