Jack C. Collins

For the Jack C. Collins who played for Essendon, see Jack Cecil Collins. For the other people with the same name, see Jack Collins.
Jack Collins
Personal information
Full nameJohn Charles Collins
Date of birth5 January 1930
Date of death6 July 2008 (aged 78)
Place of deathWerribee
Original teamYarraville Football Club
Playing career
YearsClubGames (Goals)
1950–1958Footscray154 (385)
Career highlights


John Charles "Jack" Collins (5 January 1930 – 6 July 2008) was (for his day), a heavy and tall Australian rules footballer, who played for the Footscray Football Club (now known as the Western Bulldogs).

His father, James Collins, who had been the captain-coach of the Yarraville Football Club from 1918 to 1919, played 30 senior games for the Essendon Football Club from 1919 to 1921.[1]

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 (later designated the Charles Sutton Medal).

In 1953, both Collins and Collingwood player Frank Tuck were reported following a fierce fight.[2][3] They were both subsequently suspended[4][5] and, as a result, Collins missed the finals of the 1953 VFL season in which Footscray finished third.[6]

The next year,Collins kicked a (then record) 7 goals at full-forward in the 1954 VFL Grand Final, where Footscray, captained by Charlie Sutton, won their only (to date) premiership. Also, in that same year (1954) Collins was the VFL Leading Goalkicker with 84 goals. He was the leading goalkicker, again, in the 1957 VFL season with a total of 74 goals.[7]

After retiring from football after 154 games and 385 goals,[8] Collins served as a players representative, then secretary, and finally president of the club. Collins was active in moves to save the Footscray Football Club when the club nearly merged with Fitzroy in 1989.[9]

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.[10]

References

  1. ↑ http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/J/Jim_Collins.html
  2. ↑ Rose's Brilliance in Magpie Win, The Age, (Monday, 31 August, 1953), p.12.
  3. ↑ VFL Details: Players Reported, The Argus, (Monday, 31 August 1953), p.16.
  4. ↑ [http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/23308482 "Tribunal Imposes Four-game Ban: Suspensions Force Collins, Tuck out of Finals", The Argus, (Wednesday, 2 September 1953), p.22.}
  5. ↑ Tuck, Collins Suspended for Four Weeks: Heavy Blow for Two Semi-Finalists, The Age, (Wednesday, 2 September 1953), p.12.
  6. ↑ Jack Collins 1930 - 2008, Western Bulldogs, 7 July 2008.
  7. ↑ Matthews, Bruce; Timms, Daryl: Tributes flow in for Jack Collins, Herald Sun, 7 July 2008.
  8. ↑ Bulldogs great Collins dies, The West Australian, 7 July 2008.
  9. ↑ John Lack, Chris McConville, Michael Small, Damien Wright (1996), A History of the Footscray Football Club Unleashed, Aus-Sport Enterprises, Footscray, p.255. ISBN 0-646-26215-7
  10. ↑ http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/30/1091080431940.html

External links