JJ Collins ''

né The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Felise (born 15 February 1996) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who last played for the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

as a in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

(NRL). He previously played for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

, the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

and the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

in the NRL. More recently, Collins has played regional rugby league in the Queensland Hostplus Cup for the

Tweed Heads Seagulls The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls or Tweed Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. It is one of only two club teams based outside of Queensland to play in the Queensland C ...

and the

Central Queensland Capras The Central Queensland Capras are a semi-professional rugby league football club primarily based in Rockhampton, Queensland and representing Central Queensland. They play in the Hostplus Cup in Queensland, which is a second-tier competition in ...

, a feeder club for the Dolphins NRL team.

Background

Collins was born in Logan City, Queensland, Australia, of Samoan descent. He was formerly known as Jacob Junior Felise and JJ Felise, before changing his name to JJ Collins. Collins played his junior rugby league for the Logan Brothers and attended

Keebra Park State High School Keebra Park State High School (KPSHS), referred to as Keebra Park or Keebra, is a co-educational public secondary school, located in the Gold Coast suburb of Southport, Queensland, Australia. The school falls within Division 6 of Gold Coast ...

, before signing with the

as a teenager.

Playing career

Early career (2013–2014)

While attending Keebra Park High School, Collins was a member of their 2013

ARL Schoolboy Cup The NRL Schoolboy Cup is the premier Education in Australia#Secondary schools, secondary schools rugby league competition in Australia, held annually since 1975. Formerly known under such names as the Amco Shield, Commonwealth Bank Cup, Arrive A ...

winning side. He also represented the Queensland Schoolboys in 2013 and 2014.

wests Tigers (2015–2017)

In 2015 and 2016, Collins played for the Wests Tigers' NYC team, including twenty-one games in 2015. In January 2016, he was named in the Queensland Academy of Sport under-20s squad. In round 7 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, Collins made his

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

debut for the Tigers against the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

. Coach Jason Taylor said his debut was, "was a tough game that went into extra time and he just didn’t look out of place for a second, which when you stop and think about it, is an incredible thing for a prop on debut against that pack." On 1 June, he re-signed with the Tigers on a two-year contract until the end of 2018. He played in 8 games for the season, all from the interchange bench. In the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

and suffering some recurring injuries, Collins only made five NRL appearances for the season and did a lengthy stint in reserve grade.

Newcastle Knights (2018)

Ahead of round 16 of the 2018 season, Collins joined the

effective immediately after not being able to break into the Tigers' NRL side all season. After spending some time in the Newcastle reserve-grade side, he made his club debut in round 21 against his former team, the Wests Tigers. Collins subsequently played one more NRL match for Newcastle.

Canberra Raiders (2019)

In round 6 of the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

, Collins made his club debut for the

in their 26–22 win against the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

GIO Stadium Canberra Stadium, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sp ...

Hostplus Cup (2021–2022)

In 2021 and 2022, Collins played thirty-nine games and scored four tries for the

in the Hostplus Cup, Queensland's regional competition. In May 2022, he signed a contract to join the newly licensed

side ahead of the 2023 NRL season.

Dolphins (2023)

Collins commenced 2023 playing four games in the Hostplus Cup for the

, a feeder club for the

NRL team. In round 7 of the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

, Collins made his club debut as an interchange for the Dolphins in their 14–36 loss to the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

. At the end of the season, Collins' departure from the club was announced.

References

External links

Dolphins profileQRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, JJ 1996 births Living people Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders players Dolphins (NRL) players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players Newcastle Knights players People educated at Keebra Park State High School Rugby league players from Logan, Queensland Rugby league props Western Suburbs Magpies NSW Cup players Wests Tigers NSW Cup players Wests Tigers players 21st-century Australian sportsmen