Chalmers, who played his first game for Melrose back in 1986 against Harrogate, made his 200th appearance for the Greenyards outfit against Ayr on Saturday, after appeals to his Melrose club mates to let him bow out quietly fell on deaf ears.
"I didn't really want any fuss," he told TheSouthern.
Chalmers was brought on as a last-quarter substitute in the final Premiership match to be played at the Greenyards this season, and Melrose had the game already won after scoring four tries to claim yet another bonus point.
"Mike Dalgetty persuaded me to put my boots on for one more game," he continued. "It was really nice and I'm glad I played though. I would have preferred to have kept playing, but I have suffered a fair bit of wear and tear over the years and now it's come to a point where I can't do what I used to be able to do so it's time to pack it in."
Although his playing days are over, Melrose's most capped player still intends to be fully active elsewhere in Scottish rugby both at club and possibly higher level. Read what he has to say about his future ambitions and the current national set up in next week's Southern.
Melrose have a weekend off as far as XVs rugby goes this week but elsewhere in the Borders, there's plenty of action to be found.
Murrayfield beckons for Hawick Harlequins as they prepare to take on Greenock Wanderers in the semi-final of the BT Bowl on Saturday.
The only Border team to be left in any of this year's BT knock-out tournaments, 'Quins are looking to repeat and better their achievement of 2002 when they got into the final of the same competition only to be beaten by Ellon.
Greenock Wanderers, who sit second in National League Division One, will be a tough call for the Hawick side, but player/ coach John Johnstone is confident his team can produce the goods this weekend: "Yes they're higher up than us but we have played big teams before and beat them, so there's no reason why we can't do it again," he told us.
"We have had a full squad to pick from and everyone is up for it. We have a lot of experience in these types of games and have done our homework on Greenock, so with a big home crowd behind us on Saturday we could do some damage."
Elsewhere Peebles play host to Langholm in the Southern Reporter Border League on Friday night, while On Saturday, Hawick continue their scramble up the Division One table with a re-arranged fixture against high-flying Glasgow Hawks at Mansfield Park.
Kelso have an early kick-off at Poynder Park (2pm) when they will take on Dundee HSFP, while Selkirk XV also have free week.
And the rugby continues on Sunday, when the spring sevens kicks-off at Netherdale with the 114th Gala Sevens Tournament. See special feature on page 33.