Sam Collins (Australian footballer)

Sam Collins
Personal information
Full name Samuel John Collins
Nickname(s) The Monument, Collo[1]
Date of birth (1994-06-15) 15 June 1994 (age 30)
Original team(s) Werribee Football Club (VFL)/Box Hill Hawks (VFL)/Oakleigh Chargers (TAC)
Draft No. 55, 2015 national draft
Pre-draft selection, 2018 national draft
Height 194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 98 kg (216 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current club Gold Coast
Number 25
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2016–2017 Fremantle 014 (0)
2019– Gold Coast 113 (0)
Total 127 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Sam Collins (born 15 June 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Gold Coast in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

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Originally from Donvale, Collins is the youngest of four children and attended Whitefriars College, graduating in 2012. As a junior, Collins played for the Donvale Football Club.[2] He played for the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup Under 18s competition before moving onto the Box Hill Hawks Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[3] Collins was a member of the Box Hill Hawks leadership team from age 19.

AFL career

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Collins was recruited as a mature age player to Fremantle with their third selection, 55th overall, in the 2015 AFL draft.[4] He has made his AFL debut in Round 10 of the 2016 AFL season, against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, after playing well for Fremantle's reserves team, Peel Thunder, in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).[5]

Collins was delisted by Fremantle at the conclusion of the 2017 season,[6] in the same year in which he won the Dudley Tuckey Medal for Peel Thunder's Best and Fairest player[7] and was named in the WAFL team of the year.[8] He was not drafted by another AFL club in the 2017 AFL draft,[9] and returned to Melbourne to play for Werribee Football Club.[10] He won the Werribee Football Club Best and Fairest in 2018, was named in the VFL team of the year and came equal third in the JJ Liston Trophy, awarded to the competitions best player.

The Gold Coast signed Collins as a mature aged state-league concession prior to the 2018 AFL draft, and will play for the club from 2019 onwards.[11] In 2020, Collins was named in the Suns leadership group[12] and went on to win the Club Champion Award.[13] Collins won his second Club Champion award in 2024,[14] after another strong season which saw him named in the 44 man All Australian Squad.[15]

Statistics

[edit]
Statistics are correct to the end of 2024[16]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2016 Fremantle 40 12 0 0 89 68 157 62 31 0.0 0.0 7.4 5.7 13.1 5.2 2.6 0
2017 Fremantle 40 2 0 0 7 14 21 6 8 0.0 0.0 3.5 7.0 10.5 3.0 4.0 0
2018 Delisted for the 2018 season
2019 Gold Coast 25 9 0 0 65 44 109 43 12 0.0 0.0 7.2 4.9 12.1 4.8 1.3 0
2020[a] Gold Coast 25 17 0 0 107 68 175 74 27 0.0 0.0 6.3 4.0 10.3 4.4 1.6 0
2021 Gold Coast 25 19 0 0 152 78 230 119 32 0.0 0.0 8.0 4.1 12.1 6.3 1.7 2
2022 Gold Coast 25 22 0 0 168 75 243 117 34 0.0 0.0 7.6 3.4 11.1 5.3 1.6 0
2023 Gold Coast 25 23 0 0 176 104 280 127 37 0.0 0.0 7.7 4.5 12.2 5.5 1.6 0
2024 Gold Coast 25 23 0 0 163 120 283 121 36 0.0 0.0 7.1 5.2 12.3 5.3 1.6
Career 127 0 0 927 571 1498 669 217 0.0 0.0 7.3 4.5 11.8 5.3 1.7 2

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Family life

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Sam's father, Kevin Collins, has an extensive background in playing and coaching football. He played for many years at Oakleigh in the VFA and then coached at a number of clubs. He led Donvale FC to numerous premierships and had coaching stints at Box Hill FC coaching Sam to a Premiership. Kevin Collins continues to be involved in coaching and returned to Donvale FC to become the senior coach in 2020.[17]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Weird footy nicknames: So why do they call Gov 'Brackets'?". 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ "AFL Draft". 25 November 2015.
  3. ^ MacGregor, Natalie (28 May 2015). "Collins: The Man You Can Count On".
  4. ^ "Pick 55 - Sam Collins". fremantlefc.com.au. 24 November 2015.
  5. ^ Duffield, Mark (26 May 2016). "Dockers give debut to Collins". The West Australian.
  6. ^ "Fremantle list update". 6 October 2017.
  7. ^ "SAM COLLINS WINS 2017 DUDLEY TUCKEY MEDAL". Peel Thunder Football Club. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  8. ^ "2017 wafl.com.au Team of the Year". WA Football. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Close but no cigar: Players who missed out". 27 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Collins finds a football home for 2018". The West Australian. 10 December 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  11. ^ Cleary, Mitch (15 October 2018). "Former Docker set to boost Suns' defence". afl.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  12. ^ "From tears to leadership group: How Sun turned his career around". www.afl.com.au. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  13. ^ "2020 Club Champion – Sam Collins". www.goldcoastfc.com.au. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Star defender snares second Suns B&F crown, young stars finish top three". afl.com.au. 9 September 2024.
  15. ^ "44-person squad for All Australian Team named". afl.com.au. 26 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Sam Collins". AFL Tables. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  17. ^ "KEVIN COLLINS APPOINTED DONVALE COACH | Eastern FNL". 15 August 2019.
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