Nightcliff Tigers veteran Cam Ilett returns for knockout semi-final against St Mary’s
The return of one of their champions from calf injury will bolster Nightcliff’s semi-finals hopes in what will be a crucial match against St Mary’s.
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Spending more time together away from the game was a key ingredient in Nightcliff’s reversal of fortunes, Tiger champion Cam Ilett believes.
After going six weeks without a win, Nightcliff has won the past eight in a row in Men’s Premier League, including a thrilling two-point elimination final victory over Darwin Buffaloes.
Set to return to the field after a calf injury sidelined him for two weeks, the dual Nichols medallist said the squad had reaped the benefits of more time together.
“We knew training two nights a week, play a game on the weekend, have a couple of beers after a game wasn’t quite enough for our group to really, I suppose, build really strong relationships,” Ilett said.
He said dinners and recovery sessions were the order of the day, with the eight consecutive wins a by-product of that “deepening connection”.
“It’s pretty simple to be honest, it’s like anything in life, the more time you spend with people ... the greater understanding ... the more care you have,” he said.
“And for us, it was deepening that connection ... which made us play more for each other on the field.
“If you look at our side in the last four or five weeks, if you look at some photos and footage, our players are just having fun.
“They’re just enjoying each other’s company.”
Ilett said with the departure of some key forwards in Kyle Emery and Liam Holt-Fitz, midfielder Phil Wills, a season-ending concussion to Trent Melville and far less games from Nichols medallist Daniel Bowles, it took some time for a new looking Nightcliff to gel.
“We were always of the belief we had the right group,” he said.
“New players come in, juniors step up, there is a period of adjusting and building cohesion and understanding of each other’s game.
“In that middle block we were averaging eight, nine changes a week.”
He said wins over Palmerston and Wanderers, either side of Christmas, were “absolutely critical” in turning their season around.
Meanwhile, Ilett said he was tempted to play in the elimination final, but opted to run water instead.
“I was trying in the most subtlest way to have an impact,” he said with a laugh.
“A sneaky bit of advice.
“I could have really pushed to play but I could have done more damage.”
While all the talk has been about the recent rivalry between Waratah and St Mary’s, the Tigers also have strong recent history with the Saints.
And a strong, core group of six or seven players has remained with both sides, duelling in last season’s preliminary final and that famous 2020-21 grand final.
“Sporting organisations know the key formula to success is having great foundations and a core group of players who can really drive your footy program forward,” he said.
“They’ve certainly got it right, hence why we’re able to compete at the business time of the season.
“The core group of both footy clubs are locals or guys who have moved to the Territory and really laid some roots here.
“There’s a great respect but also, I suppose, an appetite to compete and beat each other.”
Adding a further dimension is senior coaches of both clubs, Chris Baksh and Anthony Vallejo, work at the Clontarf Foundation: “There’s a great level of respect and admiration there but also that competitive nature of ... bragging rights.”
Michael Bowden on why Southern Districts were the big improvers this season
The appointment of senior coach Shannon Rusca and his ability to draft in quality talent has seen the Crocs jump from also-rans to premiership contenders inside 12 months, stand-in captain Michael Bowden believes.
One of the competition’s elite defenders, who will step in this weekend for suspended skipper Dean Staunton for striking Bradley Stokes in Round 18, told this publication Districts had the cattle to claim their first premiership since the 2017/18 season.
He said with Jake McQueen and Frazer Driscoll hitting their peak, plus the addition of the competition’s leading ruckman Matt Dennis, VFL players Matt Shannon, Jack Sexton and Jack Mentha plus key forward Sam Dunstan (second in the comp for forward 50 marks) from Waratah, Districts had become a genuine premiership threat.
“This season has gone really well for us,” Bowden said of their 13-2 home and away campaign.
“Shannon (Rusca) coming back ... you just know he’s going to bring some boys (in) that’s going to fill up our side with talent.
“It’s really topped up the side, our bottom five players are better than last year’s bottom five.
“To be honest, at the start of the season, I didn’t expect us to do as well as we have.”
He said Dennis, who had not been beaten in the ruck all year and led the competition for hit outs by 59, was an irreplaceable component.
“Without him, we’re probably half a side, he just completes you,” he said.
“He just changes our whole game.”
It helped take the 21-22 version of the Crocs from mid-table for scoring and scores against, to the league’s third-highest scoring team and second stingiest defence.
Crocs also went from the bottom three to the top trio for clearances.
Districts have kept a core from that elimination loss – Bowden, Staunton, Driscoll, McQueen, Luke Smith, Tom Boustead and Beau Schwarze – but also added Ronald Fejo, ex-AFL talent in Cam Ellis-Yolmen, SANFL star Kaine Stevens (West Adelaide) plus swingman Matt Mazzini and defender Ben Galbraith from Imperials in the Sunraysia league.
However, they will be without Staunton for the semi-final against Waratah, who they have beaten twice this season: by 37 points in Round 3 and 28 points in Round 12.
“Deano does everything for everyone in this side,” Bowden said of Staunton’s influence.
“For him to miss this week is probably hard for us. We’ll try and get the win for him.
“He’s probably one of the best captains I’ve ever had.
“For him to miss this (grand final), I don’t know how to describe it, it would have been painful to watch him on the sideline.
“He leads by example, and a lot of the stuff he does off the field, he gives above and beyond.
“He’s always thinking and talking footy.”
It could have been at training, or in back-to-back wins over St Mary’s and Waratah, but Bowden said the penny began to drop mid-season that Districts were good enough to win its fourth MPL flag.
“We could all see that we’re a quality side,” he said.
“There’s a good feeling down there at the moment,
“We’ve got the cattle but we’ve just got to put it all together.”
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