Lego Man Walks

I had the habit of writing the odd farewell blog last year but I haven’t been able to keep up with all the departures of late. However, I got a special request from David Collins by mail this week wondering where his was. I have the mail so there’s no denying it. He claims to never read the blog or the joe.ie stuff but has been caught out on occasion referencing it. With material scarce, I’ll give in and give him his moment in the spotlight.

Collins arrived in October 2009 but it wasn’t until June 2010 that he spoke for the first time. That was a day down in Lux when he was injured and was helping out on the line. He did stretch the legs briefly in the semi as he spotted an opportunity to save the day and sprung himself from the bench to get us out of jail. Despite playing no part in the final that day, he decided to give a big speech at the end, listing all the things he ever won and telling us that this topped the lot of them.

Socially, he was a strange creature. It may have had something to do with the way he looked. Biffo, Podge, Justin Bieber, Morgan Parra and the crowd favourite, lego man, are some of the nicknames that spring to mind. The ladies loved him and his charms but they rarely saw the cynical man beneath the facade.

I used to go to the gym regularly with him and spent hours listening to how he didn’t want to up the weights because he was getting too big. He’d be looking into the mirror talking to himself, telling himself he was the best footballer in Europe. Then he’d grab the blow dryer and start singing away. He fitted in well with some of the lads in gym.

He had about ten going away parties before he left; even more than Hudson. The picture above is his last one, which no-one attended. One of the lads found the photo on his camera, clearly taken with the timer function. Unlike Hudson, we are pretty sure he won’t come back though, especially since he gave all his clothes to aforementioned gentleman.

In fairness, getting out of Ireland is good for people as you can express yourself a bit more than you could in say, Clara, where everything you do would be ridiculed. Unless your name is Brian Cowan. Collins studied in Manchester and picked up some naff English style. His favourites were the Paul Galvin skinny jeans tucked into the hobnail boots. Not just the clothes though, he kept a few English lads in his pocket too from his rugger activities.

I could go on, about the two phones, the hippie camper gone wrong and a host of other things but I won’t because if you didn’t know him, you wouldn’t believe me.

Back to the field of play though and credit where credit is due. He played up to Offaly U-21 and won Senior Championships with Clara. All was achieved from the full back line apparently, which is hard to believe because he had no pace and no leap. He did have a brain though, which worked significantly faster off the ball than on it but that bought him enough time.

He had work rate too and led in his quiet way. Guys with that quality and who have played at that level can talk you through a game. I played in or around him enough to appreciate that.

He was one of the lads for sure. We’ve lost some good fellas in the last six months. Ollie, Hudson and Collins would have spent a good chunk of last summer in my gaff watching sport and having BBQ’s. It’s Brussels’ wicked side; fellas come and go. In Collins’ cause, he’ll go to Oz and we all wish him well.