Craig Chalmers determined to go out on a high at Melrose Chalmers" time at Melrose was interrupted by the arrival of professionalism. In Scotland, he played for the Borders, Edinburgh Reivers and Glasgow Caledonians, before heading south for periods at Harlequins, Worcester and Pertemps Bees. He returned to Melrose as player/coach in 2004, finally hanging up his boots at the end of the following season after playing his 200th game for the club. "There's no doubt it will be a wrench to leave," said Chalmers. I've been at the club pretty much all my life. I made my first team debut when I was 17 and I played my last game when I was 35. There is a lot of history there and I feel I have been lucky to be involved in so much success. I've been fortunate to be at the club through two really good periods. What we achieved in the 90s was great and the last four or five years have been pretty special too. It has been great fun. No matter where I go this will always be my club. It is the end of an era for two other Melrose stalwarts as veteran hooker Wayne Mitchell and flanker John Dalziel, who will take over from Chalmers as head coach next season, will also quit playing after the Gala match on Wednesday. Chalmers may never be feted in the same way as Jim Telfer, the former Scotland and Lions coach whose return to the club in the Eighties underpinned their domination of the next decade, but he has delivered a handy stack of honours in his time in charge. Inheriting a side that had wallowed in mid-table mediocrity for a few seasons, he grew a new team and instilled something of his own ferociously competitive outlook in their mentality. The ultimate rewards came with league titles in 2011 and 2012. Saturday's match will also be their fifth Scottish Cup final appearance in six years, although they managed to win just one - in 2008 - of the previous four. Reflecting on his time as coach, Chalmers said: "Winning back-to-back league trophies was a fantastic achievement. We don't have massive resources and a massive player pool, but players do want to come and play for us. We have been pretty selective about the guys we have brought into the club from outside. Virtually everyone who has come here has fitted in really well. We've had some success and I think the players have given the supporters some great occasions over the years. A persistent critic of the SRU, Chalmers has never pulled his punches when discussing the Union's failure to promote coaches from within the Scottish club game. With many friends and connections in English rugby, he could yet find a role at an Aviva Premiership club, if only on a consultancy basis, to complement his work at Chinnor. Bryan Redpath, his old half-back partner at Melrose, once described Chalmers as the most driven and dedicated individual he had ever met. Those qualities may yet be seen at rugby's top level again.