Maurie Collins

Australian rules footballer

Maurie Collins
Collins in 1901
Personal information
Full name	Maurice Ignatius Collins
Date of birth	21 July 1876
Place of birth	Clifton Hill, Victoria
Date of death	8 November 1943(1943-11-08) (aged 67)
Place of death	Kew, Victoria
Original team(s)	Albert Park
Position(s)	Defender
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1897–1904	Essendon	97/98 (7)^[1]
¹ Playing statistics correct to the end of 1904.
Career highlights
VFL premiership player: 1901
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Maurice Ignatius Collins (21 July 1876 – 8 November 1943)^[2] was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Family

The son of Timothy Collins (1843-1899),^[3] and Catherine Collins (1846-1928), née Nunan,^[4] Maurice Ignatius Collins was born at Clifton Hill, Victoria on 21 July 1876.^[5]

He married Eileen Mary Marsh (1886-1968) in 1906.^[6] They had four children; one of whom, Alan Collins (1914-1914) died in his infancy. In 1927, another of their three sons, Maurice Xavier Collins (1907-1955), was captain of the Old Xaverians Football Club in the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association (MAFA).^[7]

Football

Essendon (VFL)

Collins played his early football with the Albert Park Football Club. He was injured during the 1897 VFL finals series but according to some sources made one appearance. Collins, a defender, was a member of Essendon's 1901 premiership team, as a back pocket. A VFL representative, he was the vice captain of Essendon for his final season.

1899 team of "champions"

At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player", the football correspondent for The Argus, Reginald Wilmot ("Old Boy"), selected a team of the best players of the 1899 VFL competition:

Backs: Maurie Collins (Essendon), Bill Proudfoot (Collingwood), Peter Burns (Geelong).
Halfbacks: Pat Hickey (Fitzroy), George Davidson (South Melbourne), Alf Wood (Melbourne).
Centres: Fred Leach (Collingwood), Firth McCallum (Geelong), Harry Wright (Essendon).
Wings: Charlie Pannam (Collingwood), Eddie Drohan (Fitzroy), Herb Howson (South Melbourne).
Forwards: Bill Jackson (Essendon), Eddy James (Geelong), Charlie Colgan (South Melbourne).
Ruck: Mick Pleass (South Melbourne), Frank Hailwood (Collingwood), Joe McShane (Geelong).
Rovers: Dick Condon (Collingwood), Bill McSpeerin (Fitzroy), Teddy Rankin (Geelong).

From those he considered to be the three best players — that is, Condon, Hickey, and Pleass — Wilmot selected Pat Hickey as his "champion player" of the season.^[8]

Death

He died at Kew, Victoria on 8 November 1943.^[9]

Notes

^ AFL Tables, the Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers and the official league website's database state that he played a semi final against Melbourne; However, Full Points Footy, the official statistical history of the AFL books, Maplestone (1996, p. 445), and Essendon's club website say he did not
^ "Maurie Collins – Player Bio". Australian Football. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
^ Deaths: Collins, The Argus, (Saturday, 24 June 1899), p. 5.
^ Deaths: Collins, The Argus, (Saturday, 18 August 1928), p. 13.
^ Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria Births Registration no.22987/1876.
^ Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria Marriages Registration no.7838/1906.
^ Football: Old Xaverians' Football Club; Bright Prospects, The Advocate, (Thursday, 14 April 1927), p. 23.
^ 'Old Boy', "Football: A Review of the Season", (Monday, 18 September 1899), p. 6.
^ Deaths: Collins, The Argus, (Tuesday, 9 November 1943), p. 2.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maurie Collins.

Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
Football Premiers for 1897—Essendon Football Team and Office-Bearers (photograph), The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 25 September 1897), p. 12.