TWO YEARS ago, Sam Collins sat in a café and tearfully poured his heart out to Werribee coach John Lamont.

The rugged defender with the ever-present smile and engaging demeanour had recently been delisted by Fremantle and moved back to his hometown of Melbourne to play VFL.

He'd lost some confidence as a footballer and wasn't sure where life was headed.

The role Lamont played, Collins told AFL.com.au, could never be under-estimated, and had been a huge factor in his revival on and off the field.

"It was a really hard time for me going from Freo and not feeling valued and not thinking what I did was valued to going back home," Collins said.

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"I was working nine hours a day in the office, sitting in peak-hour traffic for an hour to get to training, not knowing anyone at training, having the reputation of being delisted and not being that good.

"A few things with my family were going on.

"John just cared for me as a person, and his willingness to understand what I was going through, that just made me a better footballer, knowing my coach had seen me, having a coffee, crying because of this, this and this in my life, going from living the dream to 'this is reality for the next 40 years of my life'.

"Him seeing me at my most vulnerable and caring for me and putting things in perspective helped me build a really strong relationship with him."

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Collins said Lamont simply listened, didn't pretend to have all the answers, but helped him realise that if he was never to play AFL again, two years at the Dockers was a pretty good career.

The 25-year-old played a great year at Werribee, winning the best and fairest and finishing third in the VFL's Liston Medal.

He was snapped up by Gold Coast as a mature-age access selection in late 2018.

"I left Freo knowing what I could bring but not confident other people had that belief in me," Collins said.

"That was hard to get back.

"I just feel really valued at the club and that's because of what I bring in communication and organisation and where I can I roll off and intercept the ball and I know the team values that.

"If I have three possessions it doesn't matter because I've played my role and I feel valued and confident in myself.

"I don't have to have 30 possessions and 10 intercept marks.

"When I left Freo I knew I was capable, but it was that confidence from other people."

After just 12 months – and nine games after a stress reaction in his femur cut 2019 short – Collins has leapt into the Suns' leadership group and now extended his contract until the end of 2022.

It's the first time he's ever signed an extension.

Last year still had plenty of challenges for Collins, sitting on the sidelines after such a promising start to his season.

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Rather than wallow, or just go through the motions with his rehab, he attacked it.

Unable to run, the broad-shouldered full-back improved in other ways, tallying up his laps at the club's indoor pool until it equated to the 34km it takes to swim across the English Channel.

But that got Collins and high-performance manager Alex Rigby thinking – what else could he do to help the recovery process?

After reading a book on someone who had completed the 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run for the Hawaii Ironman triathlon in a wheelchair, Collins thought he could conquer the same distance.

So it was into the pool, onto a stationary bike and onto the ski ergo (to replace the run).

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"I think it took eight-and-a-half hours - it wasn't as challenging as you think," he said.

"There's a time challenge, but it's just getting in a groove and having jam sandwiches on the bike!

"My mentality going in was 'this guy did it in a wheelchair, I'm inspired by what he was able to do'."

It's been a remarkable couple of years for Collins, going from an AFL outcast to a member of a leadership group and signing another multi-year deal.

"It's something I'm really proud of and so many people have helped me achieve," he said.

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"I'm pretty proud of myself, having my confidence knocked down, built back up and here I am playing AFL. It's the best job in the world and something I don't take for granted.

"I still need to get better. I'm really grateful I'm at a club where I feel valued."