AYRSHIRE POST REPORTS


POPULAR Ayr pro Ewen Logan has retired one month short of his 36th birthday.

One of the great servants to Millbrae, Logan has, with a two season blip when he went to GHK to help them to success in the 1996-97 Shield final, been an Ayr man ever since he learned to catch a rugby ball some 30 years ago.

"Just married, not fit, my dog and the family business but not necessarily in that order," were the reasons the veteran prop gave for not coming back for another season�s toil at the coalface. He added: "To be honest, I am quite enjoying not going through pre-season torture for the first time since I was 17."

The amiable Logan will be a big miss to Ayr in the coming season and his contribution over the past years was summed up by a player he held up in the front row for many years, former captain Jim Lymburn.

"A terrific club stalwart and one of the best props I ever played with," was his summing up. "He never knew what it was to be beaten and never backed down.

� He won a huge amount of respect and he was one of those guys whose name you always wanted to see on the team sheet because you knew that you would be able to rely on him when the going got tough."

Director of rugby Jock Craig, himself a prop of considerable distinction in his day, said: "Ewen has been a really great servant to the club and is one of the few players to have left for a spell and come back to play better than when he left. He has put in a power of work and was a cornerstone of the pack and one of the first names down on the team sheet."

With the priceless ability to play on both sides of the scrum, Logan was much respected by opponents and during matches was an source of counselling to confused referees who will miss the advice, always with a smile and even on occasion with the comforting arm around the shoulder, proffered by the ever-helpful destroyer.

So in a career spanning 20 years in senior rugby and during a time when the game has changed almost out of all recognition, what have been the highlights?

He recalled: "Our cup run a few seasons ago when we lost to Heriot�s at Goldenacre but outnumbered their support by about 30 to one was really special for the players as was beating Kilmarnock at Bellsland in front of a crowd of about 3,000 to win the league.

�Probably the biggest disappointment was the fact that we were runners-up in Premier One the season before last with a side that was probably the best equipped ever to win the title. That was the team to do it and it was very frustrating."

In his time, Logan has propped against the best but his choice of hardest was interesting, one obvious, one not so. "Tom Smith (former Scotland and British Lions) was a really honest prop and great to scrum against because it was about technique and not strength but Gavin Walsh who played for Ireland at A level before GHA and Hawks was a guy who sussed out any weakness within seconds and would give you a real hard time."

In rugby, some props have made their name at the highest level, some have made themselves a reputation for being hard, Ewen Logan made mates because you would search long and fruitlessly to find someone who had a bad word to say about him.

We wish him well and it interesting that word has it that Ayr are bringing in a young prop, Scottish qualified, from Australia.

Next week we will have more news of that acquisition as well as a look forward to the pre-season fixtures now only a couple of weeks away.

This article was posted on 14-Aug-2008, 07:25 by Hugh Barrow.