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Collins was a rugged back pocket defender. He began his senior career in the Victorian Football Association with the Sandringham Football Club, where he was a member of the club's 1985 premiership team. He was signed by VFL/AFL club Hawthorn, and played 212 games over ten years with the club, winning three premierships. His durability allowed him to play a club record 189 games in succession. He finished equal fifth in the 1990Brownlow Medal, the same year he was awarded the Peter Crimmins Medal as Hawthorn's best and fairest player. His last game was the "Merger game" between Hawthorn and Melbourne in 1996 in which he got reported and ultimately suspended thus ending his consecutive run of games.
When Collins retired from league football at the end of 1996, he turned to coaching. He returned to his old club Sandringham in the VFL, and coached there for two years, leading the club to the premiership in 1997. He served as an assistant coach at AFL club St Kilda from 2000 to 2003, then as an assistant coach at Hawthorn in 2004 and 2005. While at Hawthorn, he also coached its VFL-affiliateBox Hill. In 2006 and 2007 he coached VFL club Coburg, taking the team to a losing Grand Final in 2007.
In 2014, Collins returned to Victoria and signed to coach VFL club Williamstown in its first season as a stand-alone club not affiliated with an AFL club. He led the club to a premiership in 2015. Collins would lead the club to another Grand Final in 2019 where Williamston would lose by 3 points. The following year, Collins would depart the club to join Box Hill as an assistant coach. Following the 2021 season, Collins would be appointed as the head of development with Hawthorn under new coach Sam Mitchell who he had worked with at Box Hill.
New South Wales 13.8 (86) defeated Victoria 10.16 (76), at the SCG, 22 May 1990
Victoria 14.13 (97) defeated Western Australia 8.12 (60), at the WACA Ground, 26 June 1990
Victoria 12.14 (86) defeated South Australia 11.4 (70), at Football Park, 28 May 1991
Western Australia 19.13 (127) defeated Victoria 7.9 (51), at the WACA Ground, 16 July 1991
Victoria 23.19 (157) defeated Western Australia 13.12 (90), at the MCG, 26 May 1992
South Australia 19.19 (133) defeated Victoria 18.12 (120), at Football Park, 7 July 1992
