Zephaniah Skinner is not Superman but Rodney Eade says: 'He can leap tall buildings'

[The Coon Dog]

Mark Stevens - Herald Sun - 20 November

http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2010/11/20/1225956/945051-skinner.jpg
New Western Bulldogs draftee Zeph Skinner tries on his new jumper at TIO Stadium as he gets ready to join his new club.


ZEPHANIAH Skinner is not Superman, but the Western Bulldogs hope he may perform a decent impersonation on the big stage.

"The guy can leap tall buildings," coach Rodney Eade declared yesterday.

Every club was spruiking its picks after Thursday night's draft, but the recruit with the best name in football has undoubted X-factor.

The 21-year-old stands at 190cm, but played ruck for the NT Thunder this year, attracting the interest of the Dogs, Melbourne and Collingwood.

Melbourne was particularly keen to play Skinner alongside another indigenous freak show, Liam Jurrah, and had its sights set on him for next month's rookie draft.

Article in full... (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/zephaniah-skinner-is-not-superman-but-rodney-eade-says-he-can-leap-tall-buildings/story-e6frf9jf-1225956942064)

[hujsh]

He looks about 28 in that photo.

Something about this guy that fills me with a bit more confidence than any of the other draft picks Dalrymple has had so far. Maybe it's just his relaxed demeanor.

[chef]

Nice rats tail:D

[LostDoggy]

He looks like he is at least 24kg

[Mofra]

Something about this guy that fills me with a bit more confidence than any of the other draft picks Dalrymple has had so far. Maybe it's just his relaxed demeanor.
There just seems to be something about him, be it the coaches comments or most articles talking about a positive off field demeaner.
Given he has no wife & kids and has been to Melborune before, he seems way in front of where Thorne was last season.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

I hope he never loses that look in his eyes. The white bars give the impression he's looking out of prison.

[GVGjr]

Reminds me a bit of Stack when he first arrived at the club. Similar long limbed and lean build and of course the rats tails. A solid season in the gym might be an interesting adjustment for him.

[Ghost Dog]

" He tackles like a machine -- he has good vision and long arms."


The part I like. X-factor stuff is great, but to hear he has great defensive side is really encouraging.

[BulldogBelle]

I hope he never loses that look in his eyes. The white bars give the impression he's looking out of prison.

"Good. Now that I finally broke out of prison, the first thing I'm going to do is murder Essendon on March 27, 2011"

It's all coming to plan.

[The Underdog]

Nice rats tail:D

As if he didn't have enough head starts in the cult status stakes. The rat's tails just top it off.

[The Underdog]

Reminds me a bit of Stack when he first arrived at the club. Similar long limbed and lean build and of course the rats tails. A solid season in the gym might be an interesting adjustment for him.

Didn't Harbrow have the rat's tail? I only remember Stack's mo.

[anfo27]

I love reading stories of guys like Skinner who have come from nowhere to make the big time.
It reminds me of a rags to riches story i read a couple of weeks ago that i'd like to share. I don't know if someone else has already posted this story on another thread so apologies if it has. I'm a mad soccer fan with a Portuguese background and when I heard that Man Utd had a new 20 year old striker named Bebe from Portugal i thought i'd look him up. What i found was a truly remarkable story that would make a great movie one day.
Bebe grew up in an orphanage and once he turned 18 was living on the streets. Last year he represented Portugal in the World homeless games where he scored something like 60 goals in 4 games. From there he played ametuer football where he started to get noticed and got picked up by a 3rd division team. Once the season was over one of the bigger clubs signed him to a pre-season contract and he scored a few goals during their pre season games. Man Utd heard about him through Portugals national coach who used to be Sir Alex right hand man for many years. The trade deadline was approaching so Utd took a punt and paid 7.4 million pounds for him. When asked about his new recruit Sir Alex said 'i have never seen him play before he got here'. So in less than 2 years Bebe has gone from living on the streets and playing for a homeless side to the biggest club in the world.
What makes this more remarkable to me is that growing up in an orphanage he would not have had the oppourtunity to play junior football and get all the coaching a kid needs to improve his game. So he is at Man Utd with like 18 months of coaching, this kid has a lot of raw talent and hopefully it can be harnessed and we can see this guy blossom into a world class footballer. A great story.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

"Good. Now that I finally broke out of prison, the first thing I'm going to do is murder Essendon on March 27, 2011"

It's all coming to plan.

Ha, that's exactly what he looks like.
Of course it's all too easy to read stuff into an unknown character like Zephaniah and we need to be culturally sensitive even if we're enthusiastic about him. Favourite food of Bush Turkey and asking an interviewer " have you heard of The Bible" shows that his world and our world may be far apart. He would know and feel things we will never know or feel and vica versa. He comes into our world on our terms. We can never understand him using only our values and measurements and fairly, should always underpin our attitude to him and his culture with respect, knowing we are ignorant.

[Remi Moses]

I'm sure City tried to sign him for a billion(only a matter of time)!!
Great story and hopefully we get a gem.

[LostDoggy]

Great picture, needed a new avatar :D

[GVGjr]

Nice post to read Anfo. Thanks for sharing.

[KT31]

Nice post Anfo.
Would make a great movie ( similar to The Blindside.)
Good luck to Zeph, hope he can make the transition.

[anfo27]

Nice post Anfo.
Would make a great movie ( similar to The Blindside.)
Good luck to Zeph, hope he can make the transition.

I haven't seen or heard of that one, whats it about?

[LostDoggy]

They could've given him a pair of Bulldog Shorts

[KT31]

I haven't seen or heard of that one, whats it about?

Based on the true story of Michael Oher a homeless African American teenager in the States, Dad was murdered and Mum was a crack addict, is adopted by wealthy white couple and eventually becomes one of the top football prospects in the country.

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/the-blind-side/trailer

No Rudy, but not to bad.

[Desipura]

Looks a little like Leeroy Loggins in his day.

[LostDoggy]

I love reading stories of guys like Skinner who have come from nowhere to make the big time.
It reminds me of a rags to riches story i read a couple of weeks ago that i'd like to share. I don't know if someone else has already posted this story on another thread so apologies if it has. I'm a mad soccer fan with a Portuguese background and when I heard that Man Utd had a new 20 year old striker named Bebe from Portugal i thought i'd look him up. What i found was a truly remarkable story that would make a great movie one day.
Bebe grew up in an orphanage and once he turned 18 was living on the streets. Last year he represented Portugal in the World homeless games where he scored something like 60 goals in 4 games. From there he played ametuer football where he started to get noticed and got picked up by a 3rd division team. Once the season was over one of the bigger clubs signed him to a pre-season contract and he scored a few goals during their pre season games. Man Utd heard about him through Portugals national coach who used to be Sir Alex right hand man for many years. The trade deadline was approaching so Utd took a punt and paid 7.4 million pounds for him. When asked about his new recruit Sir Alex said 'i have never seen him play before he got here'. So in less than 2 years Bebe has gone from living on the streets and playing for a homeless side to the biggest club in the world.
What makes this more remarkable to me is that growing up in an orphanage he would not have had the oppourtunity to play junior football and get all the coaching a kid needs to improve his game. So he is at Man Utd with like 18 months of coaching, this kid has a lot of raw talent and hopefully it can be harnessed and we can see this guy blossom into a world class footballer. A great story.


Sorry Anfo, I hate bursting bubbles and was hoping someone else would have done it by now, but the bolded part of the story of Bebe, while being the popular cult version, is not actually true. Bebe never played the World Homeless Games despite popular belief -- the legend probably grew from the fact that he did live in a shelter for a while as a kid (not an uncommon story for a lot of professional footballers) and played in the European Street Football (as in the football is played on the street, not for street kids) competition when he was 12 and scored 4 or 5 goals (not exactly 60).

Also, he came through the junior system in Portugal playing for one of the best amateur clubs in the country which also acts as a feeder club for some of the bigger professional clubs, and has represented Portugal at both under-19 and under-21 level, so it's not quite true that he has only had '18 months of coaching' (I guess any more than any 19 year olds who get into the system at 14 or 15).

It's a nice story, but when you consider a world class player like Rafael Van Der Vaart went to Spurs for around 6 million pounds, Sir Alex isn't going to pay 7 million pounds for a guy with no background in the game (he basically just paid Bebe's release clause to Vitoria). Carlos Quieroz acted as de facto head scout for years when working as Sir Alex's right-hand man, and would have had a huge hand in a lot of previous transfers (especially Nani and Ronaldo), so Ferguson's faith in Quieroz's opinion would be pretty high.

Bebe has been pretty well known to junior football watchers -- Benfica and Porto have been watching him for a while, and Quieroz knows about Bebe from his junior scouting contacts in Portugal when he was coaching Real Madrid, who had some interest as well.

[anfo27]

Sorry Anfo, I hate bursting bubbles and was hoping someone else would have done it by now, but the bolded part of the story of Bebe, while being the popular cult version, is not actually true. Bebe never played the World Homeless Games despite popular belief -- the legend probably grew from the fact that he did live in a shelter for a while as a kid (not an uncommon story for a lot of professional footballers) and played in the European Street Football (as in the football is played on the street, not for street kids) competition when he was 12 and scored 4 or 5 goals (not exactly 60).

Also, he came through the junior system in Portugal playing for one of the best amateur clubs in the country which also acts as a feeder club for some of the bigger professional clubs, and has represented Portugal at both under-19 and under-21 level, so it's not quite true that he has only had '18 months of coaching' (I guess any more than any 19 year olds who get into the system at 14 or 15).

It's a nice story, but when you consider a world class player like Rafael Van Der Vaart went to Spurs for around 6 million pounds, Sir Alex isn't going to pay 7 million pounds for a guy with no background in the game (he basically just paid Bebe's release clause to Vitoria). Carlos Quieroz acted as de facto head scout for years when working as Sir Alex's right-hand man, and would have had a huge hand in a lot of previous transfers (especially Nani and Ronaldo), so Ferguson's faith in Quieroz's opinion would be pretty high.

Bebe has been pretty well known to junior football watchers -- Benfica and Porto have been watching him for a while, and Quieroz knows about Bebe from his junior scouting contacts in Portugal when he was coaching Real Madrid, who had some interest as well.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, isn't that right Lantern.

I've been forced to look into this story a little bit more and while some of the things you posted were true some where also not true. I have read about a dozen articles on his kid and all but one says that he did kick 40 goals in 6 games in the street football competition in Bosnia in 2008 and was going to be a last minute inclusion in the homeless games but decided against it as it would have been unfair for another player to be pulled out in the last minute.
I did read that up until 2 months before Utd signed him he was still living in a shelter and he had been at that shelter since he was 12. Bebe only turned 20 a few months ago so the fact he played twice for Portugal in the U19's is not a surprise.
Bebe came through the ametuer system so he did not come through any youth programs and i read a quote from his coach at Estrela Amadora who said "he’s come through street football. These days players tend to come up through clubs’ youth teams but he doesn’t have any of that training. “He’s an old-style player. He learned what he knows in the street and he has a natural creativity which is a bit irreverent and sets him apart.”
Utd might have paid so much for him because i read that Real Madrid, Benfica and 2 other big clubs were preparing to put in offers. Ferguson did say that he had never seen him play and the buy was an impulse one.

[mighty_west]

Nice rats tail:D

Those rats tails are a bit special.

The way Rocket was speaking about him on the news tonight suggests they might stay as well, saying he might have a cult following amongst fans, they were certaintly flapping around by the small footage being shown in a drill at WO today.

Rocket also called him the Z-man.

[hujsh]

Those rats tails are a bit special.

The way Rocket was speaking about him on the news tonight suggests they might stay as well, saying he might have a cult following amongst fans, they were certaintly flapping around by the small footage being shown in a drill at WO today.

Rocket also called him the Z-man.

Now i want to call him Goku, but it's probably one step too far.

[LostDoggy]

He looks like Pippi Longstocking. :D

[Ghost Dog]

Those rats tails are a bit special.

The way Rocket was speaking about him on the news tonight suggests they might stay as well, saying he might have a cult following amongst fans, they were certaintly flapping around by the small footage being shown in a drill at WO today.

Rocket also called him the Z-man.

Rats tails. About time we had some class in this team.:D Between Dylan Addison, Liam Picken, Murphy Griff and co, what a team of scruff nuts. What, too busy training to get a haircut boys? Lead the way Z man. Go the rat.