MAITLAND captain Chris Logan won't be lost to the Blacks despite pulling the pin on a fantastic playing career.
The combination of a young family, growing work commitments and a ruptured ACL were the reasons behind the 34-year-old's decision.
The classy centre played off the bench in the 22-17 loss to Wanderers in the minor semi-final, 12 weeks after injurying the knee.
"The club is in an awesome spot," Logan said. "There are heaps of good kids coming through. I felt a million bucks at the start of the year, was playing good footy and decided it would be a good year to finish. After I did the ACL, that confirmed it."
Maitland coach Luke Cunnigham had high praise for Logan.
"Loges has been a huge part of our club, especially the last half dozen years," Cunningham said. "He is a real leader and a dominant voice on the field. The other guys feed off him. Injury is not the way he wanted to go out. The surgeon said the soft tissue damage with the medial and meniscus in the knee had healed. If he strapped it up, there was no risk of doing more damage to the ACL. That's why he sat on the bench and played a cameo at the end. I'm sure, Loges with his passion for the club will be involved in some capacity."
** Former Hunter Wildfires captain Carl Manu, Samoan international Andrew Tuala and Wanderers centre and high performance coach Billy Coffey have launched Next Up Rugby Academy and will be conducting coaching clinics in the school holidays for players aged 12 to 16. Go to the Next Up Rugby Academy facebook page for details.
