Paul Kent fires back at ‘idiots and d*******s’ who trolled him for blasting Penrith’s celebrations

Veteran NRL journalist Paul Kent has fired back at the critics who criticized him last week in the wake of Penrith’s Grand Final triumph, calling them “idiots and bastards”.

Kent criticized the Panthers for what he considered disrespectful celebrations after they defeated Parramatta 28-12 on Sunday to win consecutive premierships.

In a stimulating column on The Daily TelegraphKent claimed that the antics of the ‘self-righteous’ Penrith players ‘harm the NRL’ and that their ‘evil’ behavior after the Grand Final triumph ‘devalued their own performance’.

He wrote: ‘She’ [Penrith players] are athletes who do not seem to show sportsmanship.

“They go on as 16-year-old schoolboys. Some players’ behavior since winning is immature and lacks humility.

“There was nothing graceful about some of the behavior after the grand final, as there was very little grace after winning last year. You can’t raise mugs.

He then doubled down during an appearance on Fox League’s NRL 360 show, insisting that the Panthers acted “like rat mugs” and risked “ruining their own party” with their celebrations.

Several Panthers stars responded quickly to the burn on social media, while others shared a satirical article from satirical news site The Betoeta Advocate that mocked the NewsCorp journalist.

While Kent’s views were widely supported, the Panthers’ reaction meant that he was thrown into the firing line on social media, where fans lined up to mock his views.

But Kent insists trolls don’t bother him in the least.

“They’re idiots. I’m not on social media, but I get emails from the bastards every now and then,” he told the Daily Telegram.

“Seriously, it’s grown men who paint their faces. How can you let them dictate to you?

‘I really don’t care. Twitter is a made-up place full of made-up people shouting made-up opinions that they all agree on. Anyone who disagrees will be blocked. You can’t appreciate their comments.’

Kent also defended his comments, suggesting that the social media stack lacked any sort of “rational reasoning” to lead to constructive debates.

“If it was an intelligent or rational line of reasoning that was different from mine, I might be concerned, I was wrong. But that is not it. It’s not logical thinking,’ he continued.

“If their comments were considered and still different from mine, then I may have reason to give them weight and take them seriously.

“But they’re really just baseless opinions and their own differences of opinion.”

Kent had also taunted Penrith star James Fisher-Harris for describing the current Penrith side as the best Panthers team ever.

“There’s a complacency and they’re fucking at their own party, Penrith. Because they should be celebrated, this is going to be one of the great teams and they should be celebrated and remembered that way, but they are just mugs as they go on after a game.

“Imagine James Fisher-Harris coming out and saying we’re the best Penrith team ever. That is the height of arrogance.

“Once the dust settles and the result is in, the weapons are down, show some humility and grace towards your adversaries.”

In the wake of Kent’s criticism after the grand finale, The Betoeta Advocate wrote an article mocking the headline “Paul Kent with a visible hangover, disgusted by youthful Polynesians enjoying the fruits of hard work and talent.”

Screenshots of the article were shared on Instagram by Brian To’o, the hero of the two-try Grand Final, James Fisher-Harris and the five-eighth Jarome Luai.

“I love you Paul,” To’o wrote on his Instagram story.

Teammate Jarome Luai captioned his screenshot with several crying laughing emojis, while Viliame Kikau also mocked Kent on Instagram.