By Lance Jenkinson
Williamstown will be in safe hands for the foreseeable future in the Victorian Football League.
The Seagulls have signed senior coach Andrew Collins to a two-year contract extension that will see him remain in charge of the team until the end of the 2021 season.
Collins is the third longest serving coach at Williamstown behind Gerry Callahan and Brad Gotch.
Seagulls chief executive officer Jason Reddick said Collins’ record since his arrival at Morris Street in 2014 speaks for itself.
“Andrew Collins has been a wonderful coach for Williamstown since his original appointment in 2014 when our club first went standalone,” Reddick said.
“He has led the team to top four finishes in each of his years in charge, headlined by our premiership victory in 2015.
“As well as sustaining an elite level of team performance, ‘Collo’ has led the development of an unprecedented number of players through to the AFL system, as well as developing his assistant coaches.”
In a recent interview with Star Weekly, Collins expressed his satisfaction at working with Williamstown.
Aside from the enjoyment he gets from on-field success and the development of individuals on the Seagulls list, Collins loves the history of the club, the rivalries it has with a number of standalone clubs and the challenges that present when facing an AFL-aligned club.
“I am really grateful and honoured to be the senior men’s coach for the next two years,” Collins said.
“I want to thank the Williamstown Football Club, staff and players for the trust they place in the football program and the effort all put in to having on-field success.”
Collins was a three-time premiership player with Hawthorn in the AFL.
The 54-year-old played 212 games at the top level and won the 1990 Peter Crimmins Memorial Trophy for best-and-fairest at the Hawks.
Following his playing career, Collins began coaching in 1997 and had immediate success, leading Sandringham to the premiership in his first season.
He served as an assistant coach at St Kilda and Hawthorn in the AFL before returning to the state leagues to coach at Box Hill, Coburg and SANFL club West Adelaide.
“It is a privilege to work with so many great people,” Collins said.
