Paul Kent: Friend supporting disgraced Fox Sports commentator revealed to be former NRL ‘bad boy’

EXCLUSIVE

One of sports journalist Paul Kent’s key supporters amid his latest fighting scandal could be unmasked as former NRL player and convicted criminal, John Elias.

The Fox Sports commentator was suspended from his role on NRL360 on Sunday after footage showed 54-year-old Kent fighting with a younger man outside upscale Rozelle venue Totti’s in inner Sydney on Saturday evening.

Kent, who was previously fired by the broadcaster nine months after being accused of assaulting and strangling his ex-girlfriend, had only been reinstated as co-host of the show in February after being acquitted by the court.

A 35-year-old man was charged Sunday as the police investigation into the incident continued.

Ny Breaking Australia can now reveal Elias was one of five friends who turned up at Kent’s home in Lilyfield in Sydney’s inner west on Sunday morning, shortly after news broke that the journalist had been suspended.

Elias, 60, is a former professional rugby league footballer and coach who played for clubs in Sydney, Brisbane, England and France in the 1980s and 1990s.

Throughout his career he played for many teams including the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Western Suburbs Magpies, Eastern Suburbs Roosters and Balmain Tigers.

However, he began leading a double life by turning to crime off the field, which led to him being jailed several times, including for firearms and drug offences.

He was jailed for nine months in 1995 after pleading guilty in the NSW District Court to two charges of supplying amphetamines and spent four years in prison after a jury found him guilty in 2004 of shooting a man in his leg.

Elias was also given a suspended sentence in 2014 after being found guilty of threatening a confectionery seller by calling him to warn that ‘there will be consequences’ if Cadbury Schweppes did not give its employees a ‘good deal’.

The former athlete detailed his dark past in his 2010 memoir Sin Bin: The Untold Story of A True Footy Bad Boy, in which he revealed he did armed robberies and stand-over work for notorious crime boss Danny Karam at the height of his football career.

Elias, who is now a businessman, is also a close friend of Kings Cross nightclub owner John Ibrahim.

A neighbor told Ny Breaking Australia that Kent and Elias appeared to be very good friends and Elias is often seen visiting Kent at his Lilyfield home.

Although the pair share an NRL background, it is unclear how Elias and Kent met, but it is believed both men regularly visit The Sackville Hotel in Rozelle.

When he arrived at Kent’s home on Sunday, Elias was seen scanning the street suspiciously for journalists before walking into the $2.35 million property, carrying a small white paper bag full of belongings.

Four other members of Kent’s entourage showed up at the home a short time later in separate cars.

Once the men were inside, a sixth man – a doctor – arrived at the home in a black Mercedes. Kent’s friends then led the medic, who was carrying a stethoscope and a bag full of medical supplies, into the building through a back street.

About 40 minutes later, one of the men – who had been seen walking into the house just fine – left the house limping with a shirt covering his head to hide his face – in what appeared to be an attempt to pretend he was Kent was.

He then placed a wooden plank in the narrow passageway that runs along the side of the property to block the view of the rear garage door, which opens onto a rear alley.

The man then began stumbling down the hallway toward the reporters at a glacial pace, before getting halfway and turning back toward the house.

Aware that this strange ploy was a diversion, reporters rushed around to the back lane, where it was noticed that Kent was being chased away from the scene in the passenger seat of a friend’s car.

After Kent left, his supporters slowly began to trickle out of the building themselves.

Two friends said Kent was doing “fine” but would not comment on what caused the fight.

One of the men joked that Kent had left the house to go to the Garry Owen Hotel – a pub the commentator often visits in Rozelle – to “have a drink”.

Another friend who visited the house told Ny Breaking Australia that Kent was “doing well” but was “tired of being verbally abused” by “people on the street” who had heard about the fight.

“He’s just a little sore,” the man said.

“He would like some privacy.”

On Sunday, police officers attended the scene of the fight which took place on Evans Street at around 11.20pm on Saturday to speak to witnesses and secure CCTV footage.

A 35-year-old man presented himself at Balmain police station about 6.45pm on Sunday before being taken to Newtown police station in the west of the city.

He was charged with affray after officers launched an investigation when they became aware of the video.

He was granted conditional bail and will appear in court on June 7.

In the clip, Kent can be heard calling the other man a “dogface” before they reportedly get into a physical altercation that extends across the room.

The footage shows the 54-year-old reportedly being thrown into a tree and landing with his head in the gutter before picking himself up from the ground.

Other men could be seen trying to intervene in the alleged clash.

In a statement to Ny Breaking Australia, a spokesperson said: “Fox Sports presenter and News Corp Australia columnist Paul Kent has been dismissed pending an immediate investigation.”

Meanwhile, neighbors have revealed that Kent’s home often hosts loud parties that continue into the early hours of the morning.

One woman told Ny Breaking Australia there is always a ‘revolving door’ with people walking in and out of the house – and the noise has gotten so out of control she has called the police several times in the past.

“The parties are always so loud and they just keep going,” she said.