Timothy James Collins (24 December 1889 – 19 September 1971) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played with

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 met ...

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). It ...

(VFL).

Football

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

's captain in the MJFA before joining Melbourne, Collins never played again after seriously injuring his knee in the second quarter of the round 13, 1915 loss to Collingwood. In May 1919, an unidentified former Melbourne footballer, wrote to the football correspondent of ''The Argus'' as follows: ::"In 1914 the Melbourne football team, after its junction with the University, was a fine team, and succeeded in reaching the semi-finals.
Out of this combination the following players enlisted and served at the front:—
C. Lilley (seriously wounded), J. Hassett, H. Tomkins (severely wounded), J. Evans (seriously wounded), W. Hendrie, R. L. Park, J. Doubleday (died), A. Best, C. Burge (killed), C. (viz., A.) Williamson (killed), J. Brake, R. Lowell, E. Parsons (seriously wounded), A. M. Pearce (killed), F. Lugton (killed), A. George, C. Armstrong, P. Rodriguez (killed), J. Cannole (viz., Connole), A. Fraser (seriously wounded), T. Collins.
These are all players of note, and in themselves would have formed a very fine side, but there is only one of them playing at the present time, viz., C. Lilley, who, as a matter of fact, takes the field under some disability owing to severe wounds which he received on service." — ''The Argus'', 16 May 1919.

Military service

He subsequently enlisted to serve in World War I.

Death

He died at

Camberwell, Victoria Camberwell is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Camberwell recorded a population of 21,965 at the 2021 census. The ...

on 19 September 1971.Deaths: Collins, ''The Age'', (Monday, 20 September 1971), p.19.
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Notes

References

First World War Embarkation Roll: Company Quartermaster Sergeant Timothy James Collins (74), in the collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.

First World War Nominal Roll: Lieutenant Timothy James Collins, in the collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.

First World War Service Record: Lieutenant Timothy James Collins, ''National Archives of Australia''.

Studio Portrait, December 1917 (P10795.001), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.

Group Portrait, 17 March 1917 (P10795.003), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.

Studio Portrait, December 1917 (P10795.005), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.

Informal portrait, 1918 (P10795.004), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.

External links