Collins spent several seasons as a dependable presence in the heart of the Port Vale defence, and captained his side against Pools several times during Neale Cooper`s time as Pools manager. His form earned him a move to Championship side Hull City during the 2005/06 season, but unfortunately for Collins he spent a lot of his time at the KC Stadium sidelined by injury. In January 2008, with Pools struggling to keep clean sheets, Danny Wilson signed Collins on a 2½ year contract and he went straight in to the side. He experienced a mixed start to his Pools career. A man-of-the-match performance on his debut against Luton was followed by a red card in a defeat at Southend. The remainder of his first season at Pools was interrupted by a couple of niggling injuries but he did have time to demonstrate an attacking threat, scoring with fine headers against Gillingham and Huddersfield. His authoritative presence in the side was recognised before the start of the 2008/09 season when Wilson named him as team captain, a position he would hold for much of his time with the club. Perfectly suited to the sort of aerial battle that is a regular on the fixture list, Collins was a solid performer in the side for much of the club’s stay in League One. His form dipped badly in the early part of the 2012/13 season, but he recovered after Christmas to be one of the better defenders in a dismal season. Towards the end of his playing career, Collins became more involved on the coaching side. He worked as assistant manager and regularly took charge of the reserve team. He also had a couple of brief spells as caretaker manager. He left the club in March 2017.