NTFL champion reaches 200-game milestone after two decades and several interstate bus stops

Cameron Ilett’s long road to 200 Premier League games ends at TIO Stadium on Saturday night.

CAMERON Ilett has won just about everything in his 20-year walk on the NTFL’s Premier League stage.

Now 36, the nine-time premiership player with St Mary’s (six) and present-day club Nightcliff (three) completes his long trek by reaching the 200-game milestone against beachside rivals Waratah on Saturday.

A decade with Territory Thunder in Brisbane’s NEAFL competition, six years with SANFL club Port Adelaide and two with Queanbeyan and Belconnen in Canberra’s ACTAFL were bus stops along the way.

“It’s (200-game journey) taken a little while to get there, 21 years to be exact since my first league game as a 15-year-old,’’ Ilett said.

“It normally means life membership with the league, but I got that a few years ago when they combined my Thunder games, which means I don’t have to pay the entry fee at the gate and I’m pretty stoked about,’’ .

Ilett’s move to Nightcliff in the lead-up to the 2017-18 season caused a near riot at St Mary’s, but four years later the player himself is content with the change from green and gold to the yellow and black of Nightcliff.

Cameron Ilett.

“St Mary’s is a great club, my brother (Jarred) coaches the Women’s Premier League side and my niece plays in the under-12 girls, so my family is still very much associated with Saints,’’ he said.

“When I made the collective decision with my family to cross to Nightcliff it was all about stepping out from my comfort zone and dipping my toes in the coaching space.

“And it’s worked out pretty well, particularly the last three (premiership) years on the back of some fantastic on and off-field support around the whole footy club.’’

And why wasn’t the name C. Ilett added to an AFL club’s list?

“Like anything in life it was the right place, right time thing for me,’’ he said.

“I had some opportunities and probably didn’t perform at the right time. That’s just the way it goes in this game.

“I trained with Geelong for a week and the Power (Port Adelaide) back in 2004 for a couple of weeks and looking back I suppose as a kid, sometimes you don’t capitalise on those sort of opportunities.

“But to be honest, I’m very happy with the way things have worked out for me.’’

Ilett has transformed from a hard running midfielder to a no-nonsense defender and now permanent forward in his long playing career.

“That’s the way modern footy is,’’ he said. “You have to be very versatile and I’ve always prided myself on having a few extra strings on my bow.

“That’s certainly the message I send to the young fellas. If you’re getting shut down up forward you’ve got to have the attributes to go into the midfield to get yourself into the game.’’