Jul 12th, 2017

Jul 12th, 2017

Cronulla might become the first club in the NRL era to field a team with three players, aged 35 or over next season, with veteran Chris Heighington signalling his intentions to play on.

Following in the footsteps of senior teammates Luke Lewis and Paul Gallen, Heighington confirmed on Wednesday he would not retire at the end of the year, and wanted to stay at the Sharks.

"We're talking to the club at the moment. I'm pretty keen to play on," Heighington said.

"While I'm playing alright and doing my bit for the team, I still want to play."

Cronulla already have the two oldest players in the competition in Heighington and Gallen.

The Sharks' captain will turn 37 in August next year, but has a 12-month extension on the way.

Lewis is the ninth oldest in the league, but signed a new one-year contract last week to keep him at Cronulla after his 35th birthday - also next August.

Heighington will be 36 in January, but says if coach Shane Flanagan considers a third veteran one too many, he'll move elsewhere to keep playing.

"I love playing and my body's feeling good and not many injuries," he said.

"We'll have to wait and see - as you get older, you get down the pecking order of when they re-sign you."

While Jayden Brailey and Valentine Holmes are 21, Jeremy Latimore, Matt Prior, James Maloney and Sam Tagataese are all the wrong side of 30 for Cronulla.

Since the 1997 Super League war, Newcastle are the only other team to field two 35-year-olds in 2013 and 2015.

Melbourne will also likely reach that mark next year with Cameron Smith and Billy Slater.

However' the Sharks' success, along with performance manager Andrew Gray, have been credited with prolonging the veterans' careers.

"We've been doing a fair bit of winning over the past 18 months so it makes it a hell of a lot happier place to be," Heighington said.

He has played 310 games since debuting in 2003 at the Wests Tigers, claiming premierships in 2005 and 2016.

He's also played four Tests for England but has previously ruled out moving to the Super League.

©AAP2017