Jack C. Collins

Jack Collins
Personal information
Full name John Charles Collins
Date of birth 5 January 1930(1930-01-05)
Date of death 6 July 2008(2008-07-06) (aged 78)
Place of death Werribee
Original team Yarraville Football Club
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1950–1958 Footscray 154 (385)
1 Playing statistics to end of season .
Career highlights

John Charles "Jack" Collins (5 January 1930 – 6 July 2008) was a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club (now the Western Bulldogs).

Collins was recruited to Footscray in 1950 from the Yarraville Football Club, and for the next two years he won the club's best-and-fairest award, the Charles Sutton Medal. In 1953, Collins was suspended following a stoush with Collingwood's Frank Tuck, and as a result, missed the finals of the 1953 VFL season in which Footscray finished third.[1] He made up for in the 1954 season, however, helping the Bulldogs, captained by Charlie Sutton, to their only premiership at the 1954 VFL Grand Final, with Collins kicking a then-record 7 goals on the day. In addition, Collins was named VFL Leading Goalkicker with 84 goals scored in the 1954 season. He received the award again (by then named the Coleman Medal) for the 1957 VFL season with a total of 74 goals.[2]

After retiring from football after 154 games and 385 goals,[3] Collins served as a players rep, then secretary, and finally president of the club. Collins was active in moves to save the Footscray Football Club when VFL administrators sought to merge the Club with Fitzroy in 1989.[4] The merger proposals were ultimately unsuccessful.

Collins was a personal friend of murdered lawyer Keith William Allan, and gave evidence at each of the three trials in the Supreme Court of Victoria in which three persons were charged with Allan's murder.[5]

References

  1. ^ Jack Collins 1930 - 2008, Western Bulldogs, 7 July 2008.
  2. ^ Matthews, Bruce; Timms, Daryl: Tributes flow in for Jack Collins, Herald Sun, 7 July 2008.
  3. ^ Bulldogs great Collins dies, The West Australian, 7 July 2008.
  4. ^ John Lack, Chris McConville, Michael Small, Damien Wright (1996), A History of the Footscray Football Club Unleashed, Aus-Sport Enterprises, Footscray, p.255. ISBN 0646262157
  5. ^ http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/30/1091080431940.html
Sporting positions
Preceded by
John Coleman		 VFL Leading Goalkicker
1954		 Succeeded by
Noel Rayson
as Coleman Medal
Preceded by
Bill Young		 Coleman Medallist
1957		 Succeeded by
Ian Brewer