The absence of Paul Kent from Fox Sports could be a bonus for the network if its ratings when he was stood down last year are any guide.
The culture at Fox Sports is again in question after the street fight that resulted in the sidelining of its loudest and most prominent voice, but the company says what happened does not reflect the organisation.
Fox Sports co-host and Daily Telegraph journalist Kent was charged on Wednesday with affray following a street fight in Sydney’s inner west last Saturday night.
Kent was also found not guilty of domestic violence charges in December.
The problem is Kent’s gradual unravelling during the past few months has been the talk of rugby league circles and has been well known to those who work with him at Fox. We have asked Kent, Fox Sports and his boss and best mate, Steve Crawley, about any individual support he received and no one has replied.
Those closest to him in the media have made it clear they were concerned for him.
Paul Kent is held back before shaping up to a man outside Three Weeds Rozelle.Credit: X
Kent often criticised rugby league players for making poor choices, and for some time now the same has been whispered about him. His recent issues reflect badly on those who have backed him through some testing times.
Having been charged by police, Kent’s career has been tipped on its head, much like he was outside that Rozelle pub on Saturday.
There is little sympathy for this sad episode in the NRL playing and coaching community. Kent’s role as the media tough guy was encouraged as he ripped into people in the game with very little sympathy or understanding. If his on-air persona is different to his actual persona, he deserves a Logie.
As a 54-year-old man, Kent has to take responsibility for the majority of what he has brought upon himself, but anyone could see he was in need of help. In his first few weeks back on air after being found not guilty of a domestic violence charge, it was obvious his thinking was clouded and his delivery was not what it used to be. Kent was forced to apologise for one on-air blunder, where he made outrageous accusations about the conduct of new Wests Tigers boss Shane Richardson.
Braith Anasta’s Instagram post.Credit: Instagram
It is also unfair on Kent’s NRL 360 co-host Braith Anasta that he is having to explain the situation.
Anasta was the one who told viewers that Kent would be absent from the program for the second time in 12 months.
Police charging Kent and his subsequent standing down may have done Fox Sports a favour, however. Ratings for NRL 360 were up in Kent’s absence last year, and Anasta wasn’t shy in letting his 50,000 Instagram followers know about it.
Gorden Tallis relished the opportunity to step in with Kent gone and helped resurrect Fox’s dwindling figures, particularly in Queensland. A quick look at OzTAM ratings will be proof enough for Fox executives that now might be the time for change.
On April 24 last year, before Kent was stood down following the domestic violence charges, the show could only scrape together 28,000 viewers for its live broadcast in the five-city metro market of Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. By July – with Tallis well entrenched – that audience was regularly in excess of 40,000. By September, it was more than 50,000.
Kent was quietly reinstated for the NRL’s season openers in Las Vegas in March, but the show now regularly misses the top 250 ratings list. That was the case on Tuesday when just 11,000 watched in Sydney and 6000 in Brisbane. James Graham was impressive as Kent’s replacement on Monday.
During the first few days of the week, there have been no approaches to Tallis to do the job again.
Gus has made cutting comments before, so why did NRL act this time?
The NRL’s sanctioning of Phil Gould is interesting to say the least. Unfortunately, while the public have piled on Paul Kent – even the tree he was speared into last Saturday night during his street fight appeared on Google Maps as “Kenty’s tree” for a period of time – they have backed Gould’s view that some NRL rules are “stupid” and their implementation has been off the mark.
The comments were made on Channel Nine’s 100% Footy, which has now moved into prime time on a Monday night. I also appear on the show. Gould’s comments were repeated on his Six Tackles with Gus podcast on the Wide World of Sports website, which is also owned by Nine Entertainment, which also owns this masthead.
The concern from the NRL is that Gould’s comments damage the game, and the reason for the $20,000 fine is that when he says something, people listen. Gould has an agreement with the NRL about his dual roles as a TV commentator and as the Bulldogs general manager of football. It is a simple agreement that says provided he was not overstepping the line when talking about matters regarding his club, or acting on behalf of his club, the NRL understands his media commentary is free speech.
This appears an interesting battle for the NRL to take on, as it is not the most significant thing Gould has said — and many people think he is making sense. Clearly here he is acting as a media commentator.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo took it on himself to call Gould, who apparently told Abdo to send him an invoice. Gould’s comments were called “destructive”. How the NRL quantifies this is worth watching. By fining him, the NRL has brought greater attention to the comments and will put eyeballs on his show.
Luke’s loss
Luke Keary forfeited about $700,000 when he decided to walk away from his recently signed contract extension to play one more year for the Roosters.
Keary took a pay cut of about $150,000 to extend his stay at Bondi into next season, but in recent weeks decided his time was up. He had a heart-to-heart discussion with coach Trent Robinson, who did not try to talk him out of it.
Keary must have sensed either his enthusiasm was waning or his speed, which has been a great asset, was starting to go. At no point did he raise concussion concerns with Robinson in their discussions about retiring, despite many headlines suggesting otherwise.
Luke Keary during Thursday’s game against the Broncos.Credit: Getty
Keary has been preparing for retirement for some time, and he’s been speaking to well-connected sporting and business people. He has a business degree and he’s doing a master’s in business administration.
Keary has been in discussions with people in finance and wealth management.
Former Dragons player Jarrod Saffy – who has been successful in finance since retiring – has been providing guidance. He also has a savvy agent in George Mimis.
Burgess on hold
Souths part-owner Russell Crowe has been working the phones with Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett and Warrington mentor Sam Burgess. Expect Burgess to extend his deal with Warrington to work in with the end of Bennett’s impending new deal with the Rabbitohs.
It is interesting that Souths are working on a three-year deal for Bennett – possibly more.
That may test Burgess’ patience, as he is considered the man to take over from Bennett. As we mentioned recently, Souths are not the only club looking at Burgess.
If they don’t sign him up, he won’t struggle to get a club.
Fear of Dodd
English halfback Lewis Dodd will quickly learn all about the high pressure of the NRL when he is piloting the Rabbitohs next year. Some critics are questioning why the Rabbitohs would pay upwards of $600,000 a season for a player untested in the NRL.
Dodd is the most promising half to come out of England for some time, but he was being offered to English clubs for about £120,000 ($230,000) a season.
The inference is Souths went hard to sign him to help offset the negative publicity surrounding their dismal form in the past 12 months and the sacking of coach Jason Demetriou.
Time will tell if the Rabbitohs were right to pay that amount for a halfback yet to prove himself in the NRL.
Solly not sorry
Blake Solly showed great skill in handling a tricky exchange with Fox Sports host Braith Anasta during the week. Solly had no qualms in calling Anasta out on his own program about whether he is a journalist/presenter or a player agent. Anasta also admitted he had talked to Sam Burgess when Burgess has told Souths he has not talked to the media.
Anasta – who manages injured Rabbitohs half Lachlan Ilias, who has been told he can negotiate with rival clubs – went hard at Solly, but the Souths chief executive held his ground, which is not easy to do on live TV. Anasta’s aggressive approach made for good television, as did Solly’s ability to handle what he threw at him.
The Son shines
Dragons players have been questioning how Kyle Flanagan won the club’s best player award against the Roosters on Anzac Day in an embarrassing 60-18 loss.
The fact that this column is hearing about disgruntled players when it comes to the coach’s son is a concern for the Dragons.
It is not Flanagan’s fault he won the award, which was voted on by his dad, Shane, and assistants Dean Young and Ryan Carr.
In a team that was soundly thrashed, Flanagan missed the equal most tackles – seven – the same as Jacob Liddle.
Given the magnitude of the defeat, it may have been a better move not to award anyone with the player-of-the-match honour. In fairness to Kyle, he didn’t ask for the award, but some of his teammates are clearly of the view he didn’t deserve it either.
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