He also played for St Kilda in the VFA from 1892 to 1896; and in the first two years of theVictorian Football League (VFL) competition (1897 and 1898).
Murray (1911, p. 166) notes that, "only single men were taken", and that "the men selected were required to be good shots and good horsemen; men of previous service having preference, if medically fit". The contingent left Sydney on 18 February 1902, on the troopshipCustodian, disembarking atDurban on 19 March 1902, and returned to Australia on the controversially disease-ridden and seriously overcrowded troopshipDrayton Grange,[8][9] leaving Durban on 11 July 1902, and arriving at Sydney on 11 August 1902.[10]
In 1903 he played in a representative "Metropolitan" combined team, against a combined "Northern District League" team.[12] He kicked two goals for the East Sydney team that defeatedNorth Shore 6.8 (44) to 4.2. (26) to win the competition's inaugural premiership in 1903.[13]
He continued to play for East Sydney until, at least, 1908.[14]
Having left the police force, and having spent eighteen months conducting theTemple Bar Hotel at 312George Street, Sydney, he sold his interest in the hotel, and turned his attention to pony training, at which he was highly respected and, ultimately, very successful.[15][16]
Having had an operation two years earlier that had required the amputation of his leg, he died at his residence, "Sellbrook" — at 221 Anzac Parade, named after his favourite horse,Sellbrook[16] — in the Sydney suburb ofKensington on 6 July 1925.[17][18][19]
^Extremely popular in Sydney, unregistered proprietary horse racing, orpony racing, as it was more widely known, was an extremely popular form of racing — that involved full-grown thoroughbred horses, rather than the miniature horses its name, "pony", might suggest — and, between 1888 and 1942, meetings were held at least once a week in one or more of the four pony racecourses between the city and Botany Bay (Peake, 2016, passim.).
Boer War Dossier: Trooper Daniel Charles Collins (247),National Archives of Australia. NOTE: Due to Collin's unusual calligraphy, a bureaucrat mis-read the numerous (identical) handwritten entries of "Daniel Charles Collins" as if they were "David Charles Collins"; and, as a consequence, the item has been incorrectly catalogued as "David Charles Collins".
Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2014).The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.), (Melbourne), Bas Publishing.ISBN978-1-921496-32-5
