Snarls Barkley
Brownlow Medallist
- Jun 7, 2012
- 13,543
- 17,079
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
- Other Teams
- San Antonio, West Ham, Renegades
Welcome back to the Ching Award for 2025, I have offered to run it this season and the offer has been kindly accepted. Thanks to Kermit for running the award for many, many years.
In 2024, we saw Adam Treloar win a very deserved first Ching award after a career best season, ahead of three time Ching winner Marcus Bontempelli, who is finding this award almost as elusive as the Bontlow. Dodgy calf’s will see both giving up a fair head start in the vote count, which opens the door for Tom Liberatore to win the award for the fifth time or perhaps we could see a brand new winner.
Sam Darcy was the winner of the Pups and will go in favourite again in 2025, although there should be strong competition with a lot of young players pushing for spots in our best 23. Liberatore won the Clay for a fourth time as he continues to have a stranglehold on the award. May have a case for it to be renamed in the sad day that he announces his retirement. Hopefully that’s a fair few years away yet.
As part of the BigFooty tradition for the Western Bulldogs forum we again continue with the Ching award, which you have the opportunity to vote for who you think were the best bulldogs players of the match for the week. The scoring for the Ching award is calculated on a weekly basis as an aggregate score over the season for which player accumulates the highest overall votes in the Senior and Pup category.
How the scoring works:
At the conclusion of each game a weekly Ching vote thread will be created and a call for votes for who you think were the better/best players on the day. Everyone can vote for the 2 categories of players that we have which are Seniors and Pups.
How do you vote?
Seniors - your top 5 players for that game
5 (your BOG) -4 -3 -2 -1
Pups - your top 3 kids for that game
3 (your BOG pup)-2-1
What is a Senior player and what is a Pup player?
Seniors is anyone off of the list who played that day, Pups is restricted to voting for the junior players who are 21 or under at the start of the season. They can turn 22 during the season but must be 21 when it commences.
Each week the Ching vote thread will include the eligible Pup players for the game.
What is the "Ching" award?
William 'Ching' Harris
The redoubtable William 'Ching' Harris was one of the greatest defenders of his time, and gave Footscray service of the highest order for almost twenty years. Always impeccably turned out, Harris was a great favourite among the Tricolours' female supporters, with his Chinese moustache and fringe conveying just the right intimation of exotic intrigue, besides giving rise to the 'Ching' nickname.
Harris made his VFA debut with Footscray in 1896, the last season before the VFL schism. The following year he was joined on the last line of defence by the equally talented 'Paddy' Hinch, and over the course of the next dozen years the pair developed an acute mutual understanding, providing the Tricolours with the best defensive partnership in the Association in the process. The familiar sight of 'Ching' Harris careering out of the backlines while Hinch dropped back to provide cover was one of which the Footscray supporters never tired; neither did they mind it when Harris, as was his wont, elected to 'mix it' with the opposition - football, after all, was a man's game. Nevertheless, Harris sometimes took his liking for a stoush too far, and on one occasion in 1903 he ended up in court charged with assaulting a Richmond opponent. Two years later he was rubbed out for the entire season after repeatedly falling foul of the umpires.
Somewhat ironically, given the often acrimonious nature of his dealings with officialdom, William Harris maintained his involvement in football after the Great War by serving as a VFL goal umpire.
William ‘Ching’ Harris
Fullback who played nearly 300 games over a record 20 seasons, including five premierships.
Inducted: 2010
Games: 296+ (1896–1904, 1906–15) Goals: 32+
Premierships: 1898, 1899, 1900, 1908, 1913
Pioneers - Footscray-Western Bulldogs Hall of Fame
From the club’s beginnings and its first game in the VFA (1886), through nine VFA premierships and the establishment of the club’s red, white and blue colours and the hooped jumper, this era ended with the victory over Essendon in the 1924 Championship of Victoria game, paving the way for entry into the VFL.
Ching Harris was inducted as a member of the Thirteen ‘Pioneers’ which were inducted at the inaugural Hall of Fame in 2010, for contributions made from the club’s inception to the end of its time in the VFA.
In honor of William "Ching" Harris, we have dedicated the award in his name to Western Bulldogs players since 2002
The “Clay Smith”
The Clay Smith award was a new addition to the Ching in 2020. You may vote for one player each week who was the most courageous player of the week. This is calculated via a running total each week. You can only vote once each week and only for one player.
This award is to recognise a player that may not be the best player but the one who puts themselves in harms way or sacrifices their own game for the good of the team- not the one who is the first in to “fly the flag”.
Ching Honour Board
2002 - Luke Darcy
2003 - Scott West
2004 - Scott West
2005 - Scott West
2006 - Scott West
2007 - Matthew Boyd
2008 - Adam Cooney
2009 - Matthew Boyd
2010 - Ryan Griffen/Brian Lake
2011 - Ryan Griffen
2012 - Matthew Boyd
2013 - Thomas Liberatore
2014 - Thomas Liberatore
2015 - Mitch Wallis
2016 - Marcus Bontempelli
2017 - Jackson Macrae
2018 - Jackson Macrae
2019 - Marcus Bontempelli
2020 - Tom Liberatore
2021 - Jackson Macrae
2022 - Tom Liberatore
2023 - Marcus Bontempelli
2024 - Adam Treloar
Pups winners:
2002 - Robert Murphy
2003 - Robert Murphy & Mitch Hahn
2004 - Adam Cooney
2005 - Daniel Cross
2006 - Adam Cooney
2007 - Adam Cooney
2008 - Ryan Griffen
2009 - Jarrod Harbrow
2010 - Jarrod Harbrow
2011 - Callan Ward
2012 - Mitch Wallis
2013 - Thomas Liberatore
2014 - Thomas Liberatore
2015 - Marcus Bontempelli
2016 - Marcus Bontempelli
2017 - Marcus Bontempelli
2018 - Josh Dunkley
2019 - Bailey Smith
2020 - Bailey Smith
2021 - Bailey Smith
2022 - Bailey Smith
2023 - Jamarra Ugle-Hagan
2024 - Sam Darcy
The “Clay Smith”
2020 - Tom Liberatore
2021 - Tom Liberatore
2022 - Tom Liberatore
2023 - Marcus Bontempelli
2024 - Tom Liberatore
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2025 Eligible Pup list
In 2024, we saw Adam Treloar win a very deserved first Ching award after a career best season, ahead of three time Ching winner Marcus Bontempelli, who is finding this award almost as elusive as the Bontlow. Dodgy calf’s will see both giving up a fair head start in the vote count, which opens the door for Tom Liberatore to win the award for the fifth time or perhaps we could see a brand new winner.
Sam Darcy was the winner of the Pups and will go in favourite again in 2025, although there should be strong competition with a lot of young players pushing for spots in our best 23. Liberatore won the Clay for a fourth time as he continues to have a stranglehold on the award. May have a case for it to be renamed in the sad day that he announces his retirement. Hopefully that’s a fair few years away yet.
As part of the BigFooty tradition for the Western Bulldogs forum we again continue with the Ching award, which you have the opportunity to vote for who you think were the best bulldogs players of the match for the week. The scoring for the Ching award is calculated on a weekly basis as an aggregate score over the season for which player accumulates the highest overall votes in the Senior and Pup category.
How the scoring works:
At the conclusion of each game a weekly Ching vote thread will be created and a call for votes for who you think were the better/best players on the day. Everyone can vote for the 2 categories of players that we have which are Seniors and Pups.
How do you vote?
Seniors - your top 5 players for that game
5 (your BOG) -4 -3 -2 -1
Pups - your top 3 kids for that game
3 (your BOG pup)-2-1
What is a Senior player and what is a Pup player?
Seniors is anyone off of the list who played that day, Pups is restricted to voting for the junior players who are 21 or under at the start of the season. They can turn 22 during the season but must be 21 when it commences.
Each week the Ching vote thread will include the eligible Pup players for the game.
What is the "Ching" award?
William 'Ching' Harris
The redoubtable William 'Ching' Harris was one of the greatest defenders of his time, and gave Footscray service of the highest order for almost twenty years. Always impeccably turned out, Harris was a great favourite among the Tricolours' female supporters, with his Chinese moustache and fringe conveying just the right intimation of exotic intrigue, besides giving rise to the 'Ching' nickname.
Harris made his VFA debut with Footscray in 1896, the last season before the VFL schism. The following year he was joined on the last line of defence by the equally talented 'Paddy' Hinch, and over the course of the next dozen years the pair developed an acute mutual understanding, providing the Tricolours with the best defensive partnership in the Association in the process. The familiar sight of 'Ching' Harris careering out of the backlines while Hinch dropped back to provide cover was one of which the Footscray supporters never tired; neither did they mind it when Harris, as was his wont, elected to 'mix it' with the opposition - football, after all, was a man's game. Nevertheless, Harris sometimes took his liking for a stoush too far, and on one occasion in 1903 he ended up in court charged with assaulting a Richmond opponent. Two years later he was rubbed out for the entire season after repeatedly falling foul of the umpires.
Somewhat ironically, given the often acrimonious nature of his dealings with officialdom, William Harris maintained his involvement in football after the Great War by serving as a VFL goal umpire.
William ‘Ching’ Harris
Fullback who played nearly 300 games over a record 20 seasons, including five premierships.
Inducted: 2010
Games: 296+ (1896–1904, 1906–15) Goals: 32+
Premierships: 1898, 1899, 1900, 1908, 1913
Pioneers - Footscray-Western Bulldogs Hall of Fame
From the club’s beginnings and its first game in the VFA (1886), through nine VFA premierships and the establishment of the club’s red, white and blue colours and the hooped jumper, this era ended with the victory over Essendon in the 1924 Championship of Victoria game, paving the way for entry into the VFL.
Ching Harris was inducted as a member of the Thirteen ‘Pioneers’ which were inducted at the inaugural Hall of Fame in 2010, for contributions made from the club’s inception to the end of its time in the VFA.
In honor of William "Ching" Harris, we have dedicated the award in his name to Western Bulldogs players since 2002
The “Clay Smith”
The Clay Smith award was a new addition to the Ching in 2020. You may vote for one player each week who was the most courageous player of the week. This is calculated via a running total each week. You can only vote once each week and only for one player.
This award is to recognise a player that may not be the best player but the one who puts themselves in harms way or sacrifices their own game for the good of the team- not the one who is the first in to “fly the flag”.
Ching Honour Board
2002 - Luke Darcy
2003 - Scott West
2004 - Scott West
2005 - Scott West
2006 - Scott West
2007 - Matthew Boyd
2008 - Adam Cooney
2009 - Matthew Boyd
2010 - Ryan Griffen/Brian Lake
2011 - Ryan Griffen
2012 - Matthew Boyd
2013 - Thomas Liberatore
2014 - Thomas Liberatore
2015 - Mitch Wallis
2016 - Marcus Bontempelli
2017 - Jackson Macrae
2018 - Jackson Macrae
2019 - Marcus Bontempelli
2020 - Tom Liberatore
2021 - Jackson Macrae
2022 - Tom Liberatore
2023 - Marcus Bontempelli
2024 - Adam Treloar
Pups winners:
2002 - Robert Murphy
2003 - Robert Murphy & Mitch Hahn
2004 - Adam Cooney
2005 - Daniel Cross
2006 - Adam Cooney
2007 - Adam Cooney
2008 - Ryan Griffen
2009 - Jarrod Harbrow
2010 - Jarrod Harbrow
2011 - Callan Ward
2012 - Mitch Wallis
2013 - Thomas Liberatore
2014 - Thomas Liberatore
2015 - Marcus Bontempelli
2016 - Marcus Bontempelli
2017 - Marcus Bontempelli
2018 - Josh Dunkley
2019 - Bailey Smith
2020 - Bailey Smith
2021 - Bailey Smith
2022 - Bailey Smith
2023 - Jamarra Ugle-Hagan
2024 - Sam Darcy
The “Clay Smith”
2020 - Tom Liberatore
2021 - Tom Liberatore
2022 - Tom Liberatore
2023 - Marcus Bontempelli
2024 - Tom Liberatore
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2025 Eligible Pup list
