Cameron Ilett’s NTFL career not over yet despite reaching his 35th birthday this week

CAMERON Ilett turns 35 on Thursday, but the dual premiership Tiger has sidestepped any suggestion of retirement

Cameron Ilett in action for Nightcliff. Picture: Glenn Campbell

CAMERON Ilett turns 35 on Thursday, but the dual premiership Tiger has sidestepped any suggestion of retirement.

Ilett’s Tigers won their second Premier League flag in as many grand final starts on Saturday night, becoming the first Nightcliff side in the club’s 70-year history to achieve it.

And while Ilett was his normal serviceable self against his former club St Mary’s, the inevitable question of how long the dual Nichols medallist and eight-time premiership player — six of them as a Saint — has left at the top level was put to him.

“I’m 35 on Thursday, but as long as I can manage the workload a bit better to get a couple more seasons out of the body I’ll be OK,’’ he told the NT News.

“I certainly see at least one and potentially two more years at league level, especially when you are motivated by the players around you and want to get better in that environment.’’

Ilett was slightly worse for wear after a big night of premiership celebrations when he spoke to the NT News about the grand final win.

“They (St Mary’s) pushed us all the way to the wire and to emerge winners against the benchmark club in the competition was fantastic,’’ he said.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the players when Saints had the momentum, the runs on the board and they’d beaten us twice this season.

“We knew within our group that we’d built a lot of trust in each other and if we stuck to what we knew worked, we would be all right.’’

Ilett said the mood at Nightcliff was to remain successful for many, many years to come, the dream of any footballer around the country.