The Maroons State of Origin hardman was central to the Roosters' 36-20 defeat of the Dolphins in Brisbane on Friday.
Back in the club's first final since a 2019 premiership, they will face the winner of Sunday's other preliminary final between Penrith and Newcastle.
"It was hard, probably the hardest bit of footy I've ever played," Collins said of the relentless opening stint that ended in a 90-metre Mark Nawaqanitawase intercept try.
"We were lucky to get a couple of tries there to get a rest and get the breath back."
Collins is the only man to play in multiple preliminary final wins without boasting a grand final appearance.
In 2018 and 2019 - his second and third NRL seasons - Collins was omitted for returning veterans Dylan Napa and then Jared Waerea-Hargreaves for what were winning grand finals.
His third preliminary final appearance - in a 2024 loss - lasted just 18 seconds, Collins knocked out by a Nelson Asofa-Solomona high shot in a collision off the kick-off.
"Surreal; you work so hard for it and it's not easy, has taken me a little while to get my opportunity but I get one next week," Collins, who played 14 games in the 2019 season, said.
"Depends how you look at it (2019), for me, early in my career, I got an opportunity to play a prelim for the Roosters.
"I look at that fondly, honestly, to be part of it. Those two wins leading up, were great and now I get my chance and I'm going to make the most of it."
Collins' workrate and muscle proved too much for the Dolphins' forwards, the 30-year-old rubber-stamping his dominance with a gritty try that all-but broke the host's hearts.
He said the team's preseason trip to Kokoda, where they traced Papua New Guinea's historic 96km path forged in 1942 by Australian World War II soldiers, was central to that.
"That 2019 season, grand final week was a great week, but it was great year and that's what you can't forget," he said.
"It's everything; the preseason, the trip to Kokoda, the whole season goes into this moment now.
"It's the end of year, everyone's a bit busted. You just get up and go and that's what they (soldiers) did every day for however long.
"They paid the ultimate sacrifice, it's not even close to what they did for us but there's a lot to take out of it."
Collins takes that same bigger-picture perspective into football generally as part of a high-profile club that's not been on the biggest stage in seven years.
"The thing with pressure ... I'm playing a game; it's not pressure, it's footy," he said of dealing with expectation.
"It comes from people talking and is not something that I think about.
"Pressure is someone dealing with cancer; there's a lot more ****ing shit going on in the world than playing a game of football."
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