Sam Collins (born 15 June 1994) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who plays for the in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL).

Early life

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. He played for the

Oakleigh Chargers The Oakleigh Chargers is an Australian rules football club playing in the Talent League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. They are based at Warrawee Park in Oakleigh, Victoria, representing the ...

in the

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

Under 18s competition before moving onto the

Box Hill Hawks Football Club The Box Hill Hawks Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill, currently competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the VFL Women's (VFLW). Since 2000, Box Hill has had a reserves a ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL). Collins was a member of the Box Hill Hawks leadership team from age 19.

AFL career

Collins was recruited as a mature age player to

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

with their third selection, 55th overall, in the

2015 AFL draft The 2015 Australian Football League draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2015 AFL season. Additions to each club's playi ...

. He has made his AFL debut in Round 10 of the

2016 AFL season The 2016 AFL season was the 120th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eig ...

, against St Kilda at

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53,600, making it the 7t ...

, after playing well for Fremantle's reserves team,

Peel Thunder The Peel Thunder Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team is based in Mandurah, Western Australia, with their home ground being Rushton Park. The ...

, in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

(WAFL). Collins was delisted by Fremantle at the conclusion of the 2017 season, in the same year in which he won the Dudley Tuckey Medal for Peel Thunder's Best and Fairest player and was named in the WAFL team of the year. He was not drafted by another AFL club in the

2017 AFL draft The 2017 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) traded and recruited players following the completion of the 2017 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowed ...

, and returned to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

to play for

Werribee Football Club The Werribee Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Werribee. The club was formed in 1964 and currently plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It is the western-most Melbourne-base ...

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

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of 2024'' , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , , , 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 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , , , 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 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, colspan="18" , ''Delisted for the 2018 season'' , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , , , 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 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , , , 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 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , , , 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 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , , , 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 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , , , 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 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , , , 25 , 23 , , 0 , , 0 , , 163 , , 120 , , 283 , , 121 , , 36 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.1 , , 5.2 , , 12.3 , , 5.3 , , 1.6 , , , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, 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

Family life

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.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Sam 1994 births Living people Fremantle Football Club players Peel Thunder Football Club players Box Hill Football Club players Oakleigh Chargers players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Werribee Football Club players Gold Coast Football Club players Gold Coast Suns Club Champion winners People from Donvale, Victoria People educated at Whitefriars College