Wilton (27), a social worker, returned to Dunedin from Canada this year in a bid to get into the Black Ferns squad for the tour of England.
She played for Otago from 2004 to 2007 when she was a student at the Sports Institute of Otago and a psychology student at the University of Otago.
But back problems put her international rugby career on hold from 2008 to 2010 when she needed two operations to repair the damage.
The world had looked bright for Wilton when she played two tests for the Blacks Ferns in 2007. But it was a three-year wait before she returned to international rugby on the tour of England last year and played in all three tests.
Wilton injured her back on a scrum machine when she was playing for the Black Ferns in 2007.
"I didn't realise how serious it was and I played in two tests," she said. "It [the injury] showed up on an MRI scan." Her big disappointment was to miss the 2010 World Cup in England.
It was the memory of her student days at the University of Otago that gave Wilton the incentive to come back to Dunedin.
"It would have been easier for me to go back home to Pahiatua to live with my family but I enjoyed my time with Otago in the past so I came back," she said.
This year, she has been joined in the Otago front row by Lucy Emery and Pip Love and they have been in dominant form in the NPC.
Wilton's main goal this season is to help Otago make the final of the NPC.
If Otago performed well, it would assist her goal of making the Black Ferns for the tour of England at the end of the year.
The team is named on October 27.
Wilton is one of three Black Ferns who returned to Dunedin from Canada to help out Otago.
The others are Kelly Brazier and Claire Richardson.
Longer-term, Wilton also wants to play in the 2014 World Cup in France. The Otago Spirit plays Manawatu in an NPC game at the North Ground at 11.30am today.
Otago Spirit v Manawatu
North Ground, today, 11.30am
Referee: C Gurr
Otago Spirit: Hailee Hurring, Jamie Greene, Kelly Brazier, Claire Richardson, Arna McLeod, Victoria Nafatali, Jenna Aikman, Angie Sisifa, Kerry Stoddart (captain), Rachel Scott, Nicky Crawford, Zoe Wills, Pip Love, Lucy Emery, Kat Wilton.
Reserves: Rebecca Todd, Karina Nafatali, Biddy Sefton, Leyhana van Vugt, Claire Smith, Anika Tiplady, Greer Muir
Manawatu: Selica Winiata, Tatiana Tafatu, Shakira Baker, Aimee Gilbert, Steph Downer, Sarah Goss, Kristian Sue, Christie Yule, Zoe Whatarau, Ebony Low, Nicole Dickins, Lydia Dickins, Crystal Niutama, Amy Cockayne, Ruth McKay.
Reserves: Bianca Edwards, Nicci Kuiti, Marina Canterbury, Crystal Mayes, Amy Williams, Wairakau Greig, Hayley Hutana
