After lining out for the Dublin senior team in the drawn All-Ireland final with Tipperary in 1908, Collison subsequently joined the Tipperary team in 1915. He won his first Munster medal in 1916 before later winning his sole All-Ireland medal after Tipperary's defeat of Kilkenny in the final. He won a second Munster medal in 1917.[citation needed]
Collison also had an active role as a member of the Old IRA. Appointed O/C of the No.2 Battalion North Tipperary Brigade IRA in 1918, his hurling career ended when he was imprisoned in Belfast for drilling members of the IRA. During his time at Crumlin Jail, Collison went on hunger strike. A supporter of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Collison later served as a member of the Free State Army during the Civil War.[citation needed]