Samuel Collins Biography

Noah Anderson claims his first best and fairest for Gold Coast, with Sam Collins finishing second and Matt Rowell third.

Gold Coast will head into 2022 with Touk Miller to join Jarrod Witts to serve as co-captains of the club.

The change comes after David Swallow stepped down from the captaincy following four years at the helm alongside Witts.

Sam Collins is the vice-captain, while Swallow will be joined by third-year midfielder Noah Anderson, Sean Lemmens and Nick Holman in the seven-man leadership group.

Sam Collins signs a three-year contract extension with the Suns to remain with the club until the end of 2025.

"I really believe in what we're building here and I couldn't see myself being anywhere else, to be honest," Collins said.

Sam Collins wins his first Gold Coast Club Champion award for 2020 with 339 votes ahead of vice-captain Touk Miller (335) and co-captain Jarrod Witts (327).

The 26-year-old played all 17 games and finished the year ranked second in the league for intercept possessions, averaging 7.1 per game and fifth for intercept marks.

Two years ago, Sam Collins sat in a café and tearfully poured his heart out to Werribee coach John Lamont. He had lost confidence after recently being delisted by Fremantle and had moved back to his hometown of Melbourne to play VFL.

"It was a really hard time for me going from Freo and not feeling valued and not thinking what I did was valued to going back home," Collins said.

"I was working nine hours a day in the office, sitting in peak-hour traffic for an hour to get to training, not knowing anyone at training, having the reputation of being delisted and not being that good. A few things with my family were going on.

"John just cared for me as a person, and his willingness to understand what I was going through, that just made me a better footballer, knowing my coach had seen me, having a coffee, crying because of this, this and this in my life, going from living the dream to 'this is reality for the next 40 years of my life'.

"Him seeing me at my most vulnerable and caring for me and putting things in perspective helped me build a really strong relationship with him."

Sam Collins signs a two-year contract extension to remain with the Suns until the end of 2022.

"The club gave me an opportunity at the end of 2018 and I'm looking forward to giving as much back to the Gold Coast as I can, both on and off the field," Collins said.

"It's an exciting time to be involved. We've got a group of players who are keen to work hard and eager to improve."

Touk Miller will again serve as vice-captain for the Suns in 2020 under co-captains Jarrod Witts and David Swallow, while Brayden Fiorini, Alex Sexton and new addition Sam Collins round out the six-man leadership group.

Sam Collins says he is proud of being part of the Suns' leadership group for 2020 after being delisted by Fremantle at the end of the 2017 season.

"I've had a different path to most people, so I think I can relate to a bit more of the group, building relationships and having honest conversations," Collins said.

"Gold Coast have definitely revived my career and took a leap of faith with me. [It's] another little step on the road to repaying them. I'll always be thankful."

Sam Collins will miss the rest of the 2019 season after recovering slower than expected from a stress reaction in the hip sustained in the Suns' round nine match against Port Adelaide.

"We would have liked the swelling in the femur to have responded a bit better than what it has done," Gold Coast's head physiotherapist Lindsay Bull said.

"Sam will need a further period of de-loading before then we start to re-load that bone moving forwards. Unfortunately, that period of time will look like that rules him out for the rest of the year."

Sam Collins is set to miss six weeks after an MRI revealed a stress reaction in his femur.

Prior to his injury, Collins had been a revelation in the Suns' defence for 2019, ranking third in the competition for intercept marks.

Sam Collins will face his former side Fremantle as a Sun two years after being delisted by the Dockers.

"When you look at it, they gave me the arse but no-one picked me up, so it was on me to prove I'm worth another crack and Gold Coast took a punt on me," he said.

"I want to repay that favour. I don't need to do anything special. I will be a bit nervous I suppose because I'm playing against guys I used to play with, but I'm really excited for it."

Beginning his second stint on an AFL list, Gold Coast defender Sam Collins says he is both a better person and better footballer than the man delisted from Fremantle 12 months ago.

"At first after being delisted I was really disappointed, but I was focused on getting back to enjoying my football and I was able to do that at Werribee," Collins said.

"I learnt a lot about myself in terms of how hard I can work and my appetite for hard work and success and getting the most out of myself.

"Getting back on an AFL list wasn't my sole goal, it was to get used to the real world. I think I've been a lot better player for it."

Gold Coast is poised to unveil former Fremantle defender Sam Collins as its third mature-age access selection.

"I like to try and roll off (my opponent) and mark the ball," Collins said about his game style.

"That's probably the player I am, not too flashy but just a competitor who likes to mark the ball."

Former Fremantle defender Sam Collins, axed West Coast forward Tom Lamb and ex-North Melbourne midfielder Will Fordham will train with St Kilda over the next fortnight as they bid to revive their careers.

None have been given any promises about being picked up.

Widespread interest from rival clubs has raised delisted Fremantle defender Sam Collins' hopes of being thrown an AFL lifeline.

The 23-year-old was one of five Dockers cut after a frustrating year when he only made two senior appearances, despite a standout WAFL campaign for back-to-back premiers Peel.

Only hours after being told his Freo fate, Collins fronted up to claim the Thunder's club champion award.

"There was a bit of raw emotion that day," Collins said this week during a break between packing his belongings for the move back to Victoria.

"It was the highs and lows all in one, which was a bit different. It was a tough day, but it was a good day as well."

Samuel Collins makes his AFL debut for Fremantle at Docklands Stadium with 12 disposals (8 kicks and 4 handballs), 7 marks and a tackle in a 34-point loss to St Kilda.

Garrick Ibbotson says Dockers teammate Sam Collins is ready to make an impact in 2016 after being picked up as a mature-aged draftee.

"His body is ready to go for AFL footy," Ibbotson said.

"He can mix it with the bigger guys. I think he does a lot of training on Jack Hannath and Matt Taberner and a bit on Pav (Matthew Pavlich) too.

"So he'll learn from playing on experienced AFL footballers but with his body I think he's ready to go."

Fremantle's mature-age recruit Sam Collins could provide some intelligence on how to beat Hawthorn given his vast experience playing for Box Hill in the past three seasons.

Collins, 21, has been a pivotal member of Hawthorn's VFL side Box Hill in the past three seasons. He has been a member of Box Hill's leadership group and has played in two VFL Grand Finals.

"I've got a pretty good understanding of the way their defensive structure works," Collins said.

"Obviously that backline at Box Hill is full of AFL players who know the game-plan really well, so the backline in particular is downpat with the way Hawthorn play.

"I think that's going to hopefully help me coming here. I'm sure Fremantle have a slightly different style of play."

Fremantle select Sam Collins with pick No.55 in the 2015 NAB AFL Draft.