Despite missing out on the medals in the Club Champion, Sam Collins had another great year for the Gold Coast SUNS.

The 2020 Club Champion had to settle for fourth in this year’s edition narrowly missing out on third to David Swallow by two votes.

A crucial component of the SUNS’ back six, Collins once again took the match-up on the opposition’s best key forward each week.

Named as vice-captain alongside Touk Miller for season 2021, Collins led by example with his defensive pressure.

Forming an imposing defensive duo with Charlie Ballard, Collins will look to further his development and impact on the game in 2022.

Collins polled 350 votes across 19 games in 2021.

Game of the year

Collins was a consistent performer throughout 2021 but his standout performance came in the Round 7 win over Collingwood.

Collins had 23 disposals, with 12 marks and 4 spoils to keep Collingwood to 55 points for the match in a resounding win.

Stats Sheet

As a one of the competitions best key defenders, Collins is considered elite by AFL StatsPro across a range of statistics.

However, his 7.6 spoils per game rank him fifth in the AFL and demonstrate his prowess as an elite key defender.