Darren Millane was one of Collingwood’s most beloved players: a burly, fast wingman whose fearless play helped end the club’s 32-year premiership drought in 1990.

Recruited from Dandenong in the VFA, he debuted for Collingwood in 1984 and quickly became known for his strength and courage on the field. In 147 games, kicking 78 goals, Millane earned the 1987 Copeland Trophy as Collingwood’s best and fairest, placed fifth in the 1988 Brownlow Medal count, and by 1990 was the league-wide MVP (then called the Leigh Matthews Trophy) and an All-Australian.

His role was pivotal in Collingwood’s 1990 premiership team. He famously played through the finals series with a fractured thumb, requiring regular painkiller injections, and collected 26 possessions in the 48-point Grand Final win over Essendon, with the final siren sounding while he held the ball aloft.

The iconic image of Millane tossing the football into the air as the siren sounded endures as a symbol of Collingwood’s long-awaited triumph.

Millane’s playing style earned him the nickname “Pants” and comparisons to a raging bull. At six foot one and around 89 kilograms, he combined exceptional athleticism with raw power. He ran as if he had no fear, bursting through packs and launching hip and shoulder bumps that teammates and opponents alike remember vividly.

As Collingwood lore recalls, he would kick goals after bursting through tackles, clear a path for others by busting up packs, and take marks by wrenching the ball from opponents. It was more than just spectacular, it was artistry with muscle. Teammates and rivals attested that Millane had a good pair of hands, was both sided, had great courage, and remarkable balance. Leigh Matthews later described him as a big imposing winger, something in the mould of Robert Dipierdomenico.

Peter Daicos wrote that Millane was genuinely tough, someone who loved and thrived on the hard things. He lifted Collingwood out of despair on numerous occasions. Longtime teammate Mick McGuane quipped, “You could throw Millane over a pack and he’d land on his feet,” capturing his uncanny balance and resilience.

Off the field Millane was magnetic and charismatic. McGuane said he epitomised what Collingwood stands for, a loyal friend who was magnetic and charming, always smiling and full of fun. He was famous for visiting sick and injured supporters, often without fanfare. His kindness was most evident when visiting young and old people in hospitals.

It was never about notoriety, always from a place of genuine care. Yet he was also fiercely competitive.

He hated to lose, according to the club’s official history. McGuane described him as someone with great balance, speed and strength, yet skillful, tough, uncompromising and competitive.

He was a winner. He was a leader. His teammates all looked up to Pants and stood taller when he ran out with them, recalled Collingwood football manager Graeme Allan. To many, Millane was more than just a footballer. He was the emotional centre of the team.

By 1990 Millane was in the prime of his career. That year he won the AFL Players’ Association MVP award, was named in the All-Australian team, and finished runner-up in Collingwood’s Best and Fairest. But his most celebrated contribution came during the premiership campaign.

In September of that year, he broke his right thumb, and although most assumed he’d miss the finals, he insisted on playing. He took strong painkillers just to get through the matches.

In the Grand Final on October 6 at the MCG before nearly 99,000 fans, Millane delivered again. Playing on the wing, he finished with 26 possessions and was named among Collingwood’s best in their 89 to 41 demolition of Essendon.

The final siren rang with the ball in his hands. It was perfect. It was poetic.

Just one year after reaching football’s pinnacle, tragedy struck. In the early hours of October 7, 1991, Millane was killed in a head-on collision with a truck on Queens Road near Albert Park while driving home from a night out with former premiership teammates.

The club later confirmed he was intoxicated at the time, making the incident even more devastating.

He was just 26.

The news rocked the AFL community. As one club tribute said, all at Collingwood were numbed. The rest of the football world was similarly shattered by the loss of someone who seemed indestructible. Mick McGuane remembered that day as if time had stopped. The realization that a mate was gone, just like that.

The grief was overwhelming. Newspapers were flooded with condolence messages, reportedly more than any person in the Herald Sun’s history. Around 8,500 mourners packed Dandenong Town Hall for his funeral.

Collingwood captain Tony Shaw delivered a powerful eulogy. The club’s 1990 premiership flag flew at half-mast, and Millane’s number 42 guernsey was draped over his coffin.

That number has never been worn again by a senior Collingwood player. It was immediately retired in his honour.

The club’s Best Clubman Award had already been named after him, and it later introduced the Darren Millane Perpetual Memorial Trophy, awarded to the player who shows outstanding courage or leadership.

Millane’s legacy continues to loom large at Collingwood. He was posthumously made a life member and inducted into the Collingwood Hall of Fame. Supporters still speak of his deeds with awe, and many who never saw him play have come to know his story through the club’s passionate retellings. His toughness, loyalty, and flair are still regarded as the gold standard.

“He made everyone around him stand taller,” one teammate said. And as Mick McGuane put it, he was a true friend, someone we miss dearly, someone most prominent in the Premiership year of 1990.

Darren Millane remains one of Collingwood’s most treasured figures.

His story is tragic, a young life cut short, a hero lost too soon. But it’s also a story of greatness.

Of a man who wore the black and white with unmatched pride, played through pain with grit and courage, and gave his all, always, for the club he loved.