Career
A highly rated player from Portuguese Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League, Chalmers was first drafted to the VFL/American Federation of Labor-Congress by the Richmond Football Club with the Number. 103 selection in the 1989 VFL draft. However, Chalmers never took up the offer and remained in the SANFL for the next three years.
After Richmond"s claim to him expired, he nominated for the 1992 American Federation of Labor-Congress National Draft, and was selected by the Collingwood Football Club with the Number.
10 selection. However, it soon emerged that Chalmers had engaged in draft tampering: in an attempt to get to Collingwood, he had contacted most other American Federation of Labor-Congress clubs and told them that he would remain in the SANFL if another club drafted him. In response, the American Federation of Labor-Congress issued Chalmers a huge $30,000 fine, and made him ineligible to play for Collingwood for three years.
Consequently, Collingwood traded Chalmers to Adelaide. He played four seasons for the Adelaide Crows, then two seasons for the Portuguese Adelaide Power, playing a total of 75 American Federation of Labor-Congress games in his career.