LOUIS BURKE | Culture | CONTACT
Rugby league’s King of Class has set the standard once again as NRL 360 regular Paul Kent spent another episode providing a rational fact-based argument delivered with respect and nuance.
As a man with exactly one first grade game to his name, many would argue that Kent has no place in a nightly panel show about rugby league while others would suggest that no such show needs to exist at all.
However, it is clear to the dozens of non-hate-watching NRL 360 viewers that Kent is the common sense glue that holds the panel together in between Buzz stumbling over his words like a dribbling eunuch in service of a tyrannical king and whatever the fuck must be going on in Braith Anasta’s noggin.
“Before we begin this discussion on the Canberra Raiders, I feel like it is in the interest of our viewers, whose support we deeply appreciate, to state that my longtime friendship with coach Ricky Stuart may make me a little biassed in this discourse,” stated Kent with poise and perfect posture.
“I’d also like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional custodians of the land and waterways where we work and pay my respect to elders past and present.”
Discussion then moved on to which coach should get the sack this week which led to Kent presenting a statistics driven power point presentation on coaching records based on wins and losses.
“But there’s one thing we’re forgetting here Buzz and that’s the human heart. None of the coaches are going out there saying ‘I want to win 6/10 games.’ We’re all just doing our best. There’s more than just a human element to this game because it’s the people that make it great. What I love about rugby league is how it is a rich and diverse community of people from all walks of life and everyone has a story to tell. Yes, there’s the odd scandal here and there but I’ll be the first to admit I’ve done some silly things while on the sauce, crickey, this year alone I have! Sure, we can scrutinise each other as if beneath a microscope, look at some convenient stats, share anecdotes and bang our heads together like a bunch of mad rams or instead, we can acknowledge each other as members of the human race and be grateful for our contributions to each other’s lives, even if it might sometimes mean we lose the odd game of football.”
“Anyway, that’s halfway through the program, let’s talk about the women’s game!”
