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

EXCLUSIVE

One of sport journalist Paul Kent's key supporters amid his latest brawl scandal can be unmasked as 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, allegedly fighting with a younger man outside the upmarket Rozelle venue, Totti's, in Sydney's inner-west, on Saturday night.

Kent, who was previously stood down by the broadcaster for nine months after being charged with assaulting and choking his ex-girlfriend, had only been reinstated as a co-host of the show in February after he was acquitted in court.

On Sunday, 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 rocked up at Kent's Lilyfield home in Sydney's inner-west on Sunday morning - just moments 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, during the 1980s and 1990s.

Over 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 living a double life by turning to crime off the field - resulting in him being jailed several times, including for firearm and drug offences.

He was jailed in 1995 for nine months 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 guilty in 2004 of shooting a man in the leg. 

Elias also received a suspended sentence in 2014 after being found guilty of threatening a confectionery salesman by phoning him to warn 'there will be consequences' if the Cadbury Schweppes did not give his associates 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, revealing he was doing armed robberies and stand-over work for notorious crime boss Danny Karam at the peak of his footy career. 

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

A neighbour told Daily Mail Australia Kent and Elias appeared to be very close 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 both men are understood to frequent The Sackville Hotel in Rozelle. 

Arriving at Kent's home on Sunday, Elias could be seen surveying the street for journalists with suspicion before walking into the $2.35million property, bringing with him a small white paper bag filled with supplies.

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 ushered the medic, who was carrying a stethoscope and bag filled with medical supplies, into the property via a back laneway.

Around 40 minutes later, one of the men - who had been observed walking into the home perfectly fine - exited the home limping with a shirt covering his head to hide his face - in what appeared to be a bid to pretend he was Kent.

He then erected a wooden board in the narrow passageway that runs alongside the property to obscure the view of the back garage door, which opens into a rear laneway.

The man then began limping at a glacial pace up the passageway towards reporters, before getting half way then turning back towards the house.

Aware the odd ploy was a decoy, reporters raced around to the back laneway, where Kent was spotted being spirited away from the scene in the passenger's seat of a friend's ute. 

After Kent left, his supporters slowly began trickling out of the property themselves.

Two friends said Kent was doing 'good' but would not comment on what caused the fight. 

One of the men joked that Kent had left home to go to the Garry Owen Hotel - a pub the commentator frequents in Rozelle - to 'have a drink'.

Another friend who visited the home told Daily Mail Australia Kent was 'doing ok' but was 'sick of being called names' by 'people in the street' who had heard about the melee.

'He's just a bit sore,' the man said.

'He'd like some privacy.' 

On Sunday, Police officers attended the scene of the melee which took place on Evans Street about 11.20pm on Saturday to speak to witnesses and secure CCTV footage.

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

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

He was given conditional bail and is set to face court on June 7.

In the clip, Kent can be heard calling the other man a 'doghead' before they allegedly get into a physical clash that spills across the road from the venue.

The footage shows the 54-year-old allegedly being thrown into a tree and landing head-first in the gutter before picking himself up off the ground. 

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

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

Meanwhile, neighbours have revealed there are frequently loud parties at Kent's home which rage into the early morning hours. 

One woman told Daily Mail Australia there is always a 'revolving door' of people trailing in and out of the home - and the noise has become so out of control she has called the police several times in the past. 

'The parties are always so loud and they go on and on,' she said.