Footy great Willie Mason cracks up at ‘hilarious’ Paul Kent video as former NRL star blasts journo, 54, for ‘acting like he’s 18’

Willie Mason has slammed Paul Kent for ‘acting like he’s 18’ after giving his reaction to the ‘hilarious’ footage that went viral over the weekend.  

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 as police investigations into the incident continue.

Mason has added his name to a number of prominent footy figures to weigh in on the episode, which he described as ‘hilarious’.

‘Imagine waking up to that s*** and just go “what the f*** just happened?”‘ he said on his podcast, Levels.

‘You think you’re just coming up from a nightmare. You’d be looking at your phone blowing up. 

‘This is f***ed. You expect that s*** from a f***ing 18 year old at a festival. Not a 50 year old man who is a prevalent figure on TV. 

‘That is f***ed up. It’s hilarious, I thought it was hilarious  He tried to do a cartwheel on the f***ing stump of a tree. He got hip tossed.’

‘Can you believe that happened? This guy is 50 years old. At least win the f***ing fight.’

In the aftermath of Saturday night’s alleged incident, Kent was visited by his friend John Elias and four others at his 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’.