Looking at the footage of NRL 360 they replayed on Matty Johns and then coming out saying he never spoke to Benji, people would think he was twisting the story around and lying about it.
I agree he could've said it was from someone else, without naming any names.
While Wayne Bennett can be a real prick of a bloke at times, especially in the way he handles the media, Paul Kent is a hypocrite and an absolute parasite of a bloke and a reporter; he always seems to be the innocent journalist full of integrity who works in a rugby league institution that is full of liars and dubious characters. Here is why Paul Kent's self-perception is a fallacy based on this recent incident:
1. Paul Kent speaks about Wayne Bennett manipulating his statements, taking things out of context. Alright Paul, you didn't speak to Benji Marshall then how on earth did you obtain this information that Anthony Milford is a lazy trainer? Surely you would have had to speak to another member of the playing group or some of the coaching staff or is your story based on second hand information in which case you are a purveyor or manipulated information, which is just as bad as someone who manipulates information themselves? I understand that journalists don't like divulging their sources but surely you could have at least come out and said that you "spoke to someone close to the playing group" or something along those lines. Hence, in my view you come across as being dubious and unreliable by a) passing on hearsay information and b) implicating another player when you didn't see or hear him make that reaction; he would have been a lot better of not naming Benji Marshall and just saying something along the lines of "other team members are horrified."
2. Kent adopts the tone of some sort of psychiatric expert by trying to diagnose Wayne as having some sort of mental condition and saying that he had "changed" and that "there are values that he no longer values" and that "his character is no longer there" etc. etc. Never have I heard a bigger load of codswallop in my life! Wayne Bennett has always had a detest for the media and loathes doing press conferences, interviews etc. The way Wayne is behaving is nothing we haven't seen before so I'm not so sure why Paul Kent feels his needs to start making out that Wayne has gone crazy, needs mental help etc.
3. Paul Kent during the discussion on the article on The Late Show with Matty Johns makes things personal with Wayne Bennett by bringing his private life into the discussion. How or why is that called for? What Wayne does in his own time is in no way shape or form relevant to the Anthony Milford situation or Wayne Bennett's rebutle; I mean when Wayne Bennett responded he didn't even name Paul Kent directly and avoided trying to make things personal! Where the real hypocrisy occurs is when Paul starts making all these comments about Wayne's private life, his new girlfriend, people close to him wondering "where he is going," him banning media after they followed him to a restaurant etc. and then prudently changes his tone at the end of the discussion and says that Wayne's personal life is his own business!! A bit late for that new Paul considering you have just divulged salacious gossip about Wayne's personal life on national tv!! With regards to Wayne banning the media, I hardly think it is anything personal against News Ltd; Wayne never said it was a "News Ltd ban" but a "media ban" implying that ALL media were banned. Moreover, the reason why he banned the media is because that is basically the only way the guy is going to get some peace; the guy doesn't have time to interview thousands of media people to get to the bottom of what their intentions are - whether they are there to report about football or his personal life.
4. Paul accuses Wayne of using his players for his own self-interest. Once again, how can he possibly reach that conclusion? That is Paul Kent just shooting his mouth off again by making statements that have no substance. Paul has supposedly been "reporting" on league for over 20 odd years. Surely he would know by now that most coaches come out and defend their players when the media attacks them, even if they are guilty of something. Yet some how he managed to draw a vague link between Wayne coming out and defending Benji Marshall, Anthony Milford etc to him censoring the media and/or banning them because they constantly harass him regarding his personal life.
Anyone who has one ounce of common sense will realise that the who discussion on that show was a setup designed to preserve the sacred cows of New Limited. Obviously whoever is calling the shots at Fox had enough shrewdness to bring the discussion up on a panel with members who have all had previously issues with Wayne; did anyone else find it amusing that only Matthew Johns and Gorden Tallis joined in the discussion on this topic. Matthew Johns and Wayne Bennett have never gotten on and I don't blame Wayne considering half of the drivel that comes out of Johns' mouth. Also, we all know that Gorden Tallis is no fan of Wayne either. So when it comes to discussions on people with god-like complexes, manipulating the media and acting with integrity, I hardly think Paul Kent and his cronies are in any position to be casting aspersions.
