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 brawling scandal may be unmasked: he is former NRL player turned convicted criminal John Elias.

The Fox Sports commentator was suspended from his role on NRL360 on Sunday after footage showed Kent, 54, fighting with a younger man outside Rozelle’s upmarket venue Totti’s in Sydney’s inner west , Saturday night.

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

A 35-year-old man was charged on Sunday as police investigations into the incident continue.

Daily Mail Australia can now reveal Elias was one of five friends who visited Lilyfield’s home in Kent in Sydney’s inner west on Sunday morning, just moments after the journalist’s suspension was announced.

Elias was one of five friends who went to the sports reporter’s home when news broke that Kent had been suspended from Fox Sports.

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

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

However, he began living a double life as he turned to crime off the field, leading to him being imprisoned several times, including for firearms and drugs offences.

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

Elias was also given a suspended sentence in 2014 after being found guilty of threatening a confectionery seller by phoning him to warn “there would be consequences” if Cadbury Schweppes did not make a ” good deal” to his associates.

A video clip of what appears to be Paul Kent involved in a fight began circulating on social media on Sunday.

The footage, taken outside a pub on Evans Street, Rozelle, shortly after 11pm on Saturday, allegedly shows Kent head-first in a gutter.

The former athlete detailed his dark past in his 2010 memoir Sin Bin: The Untold Story of A True Footy Bad Boy, revealing he carried out armed robberies and worked for notorious crime boss Danny Karam at the top of his football career.

Elias, who is now a businessman, is also good friends with Kings Cross nightclub owner John Ibrahim.

A neighbor told Daily Mail Australia that Kent and Elias appeared to be very close friends and Elias was often seen visiting Kent at his home in Lilyfield.

Although both men share NRL backgrounds, it is unclear how Elias and Kent met, but both men are believed to frequent the Sackville Hotel in Rozelle.

Arriving at Kent’s home on Sunday, Elias could be seen scanning the street suspiciously for reporters before entering the $2.35 million property, bringing with him a small white paper bag filled with supplies.

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

Elias is pictured leaving Downing Center Local Court in Sydney in November 2011.

Kent, pictured in court in December 2023, was suspended from Fox Sports in light of the alleged brawl

Once the men were inside, a sixth man – a doctor – arrived at the home in a black Mercedes. Kent’s friends then ushered the doctor, who was carrying a stethoscope and a bag full of medical supplies, into the property through an alley.

About 40 minutes later, one of the men – who had been observed entering the house perfectly – limped out of the house with a shirt covering his head to hide his face – in what appeared to be an attempt to make himself pass for Kent.

He then erected a wooden board in the narrow passageway that runs along the property to obscure the view of the rear garage door, which opens onto a rear driveway.

The man then began limping at a glacial pace down the passageway towards the journalists, before getting halfway there and then turning back towards the house.

Realizing that the strange scheme was only a decoy, reporters rushed to the back alley, where Kent was seen being driven away from the scene in the passenger seat of a friend’s SUV.

After Kent left, his supporters slowly began to leave the property themselves.

Two friends said Kent was “fine” but would not comment on the cause of the fight.

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

A companion (pictured) said Kent was ‘fine’ but was ‘a bit sore’ and ‘fed up with people insulting him’

A doctor is seen leaving Kent’s property with one of the TV presenter’s friends.

Another friend who visited the house told Daily Mail Australia Kent was “doing OK” but was “fed up of being insulted” by “people on the street” who had heard about the melee.

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

“He would like some privacy.”

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

A 35-year-old man presented himself at Balmain police station around 6:45 p.m. on Sunday before being taken to Newtown police station, in the west of the city.

He was charged with affray after police opened an investigation after learning of the video.

He has been released on bail and will appear in court on June 7.

A friend who appeared to pose as an injured Kent (pictured) to help the commenter escape the house through an alley

In the clip, Kent can be heard calling the other man a “dog face” before they get into a physical confrontation which spills across the road from the ceremony venue.

Footage shows the 54-year-old allegedly being thrown into a tree and landing head-first in the gutter before getting up from the ground.

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

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

Meanwhile, neighbors revealed that there were frequent loud parties at Kent’s home that raged until the wee hours of the morning.

One woman told Daily Mail Australia there was always a “revolving door” of people coming in and out of the house – and the noise got so out of control she called police several times in the past.

“The parties are always very loud and go on forever,” she said.