Sam Collins (born 15 June 1994) is a professional
Australian rules footballer who plays for the in the
Australian Football League (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
The Donvale Football Club is an Australian rules football club located in Donvale, Victoria. They presently play in Division 3 of the Eastern Football League.
History
The club was founded in 1971 as Donvale United and played in the Eastern Sub ...
. He played for the
Oakleigh Chargers
The Oakleigh Chargers is an Australian rules football club playing in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based at Warrawee Park in Oakleigh, Victoria, representing the southeastern suburb ...
in the
TAC Cup
The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Vic ...
Under 18s competition before moving onto the
Box Hill Hawks Football Club
Box Hill Hawks Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the Victorian Football League. It has an alliance with the Hawthorn Football Club, which plays in the Australian Football League.
Early Australian rules football in B ...
in the
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). I ...
(VFL). Collins was a member of the Box Hill Hawks leadership team from age 19. He 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 in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
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 playin ...
. 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 e ...
, against
St Kilda at
Etihad Stadium
The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...
, 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. T ...
, in the
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League (WAFL) 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 from March to September ...
(WAFL).
AFL career
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/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...
to play for
Werribee Football Club
The Werribee Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club, based in Werribee. The club was formed in 1964 and currently plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It is the western-most Melbourne-based VFL club as ...
. 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 Medal for 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.
Statistics
: ''Statistics are correct to the end of round 3, 2022''
, -
, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2016
, style="text-align:center;",
, 40 , , 12 , , 0 , , 0 , , 89 , , 68 , , 157 , , 62 , , 31 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.4 , , 5.7 , , 13.1 , , 5.2 , , 2.6 , , 0
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 40 , , 2 , , 0 , , 0 , , 7 , , 14 , , 21 , , 6 , , 8 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.5 , , 7.0 , , 10.5 , , 3.0 , , 4.0 , , 0
, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 25 , , 9 , , 0 , , 0 , , 65 , , 44 , , 109 , , 43 , , 12 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.2 , , 4.9 , , 12.1 , , 4.8 , , 1.3 , , 0
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 25 , , 17 , , 0 , , 0 , , 107 , , 68 , , 175 , , 74 , , 27 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.3 , , 4.0 , , 10.3 , , 4.4 , , 1.6 , , 0
, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 25 , , 19 , , 0 , , 0 , , 152 , , 78 , , 230 , , 119 , , 32 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 8.0 , , 4.1 , , 12.1 , , 6.3 , , 1.7 , , 2
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...
, style="text-align:center;",
, 25 , , 3 , , 0 , , 0 , , 22 , , 10 , , 32 , , 15 , , 3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.3 , , 3.3 , , 10.7 , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , TBA
, -
, - class="sortbottom"
! colspan=3, Career
! 62
! 0
! 0
! 442
! 282
! 724
! 319
! 113
! 0.0
! 0.0
! 7.1
! 4.5
! 11.7
! 5.1
! 1.8
! 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