By Dave Woods BBC Sport in Sydney

The Sean Long saga is a great case study of how a news story first leaks and then bursts into the public arena.

A press conference had been called on the beach outside GB's team hotel in Manly for 12 o'clock on Monday.

Most of the British press had already got wind that something was not quite right with Long, but we weren't sure what so it was not something we wanted to share with our Aussie counterparts at that stage.

Conflicting stories emerged about Long's absence

He had been seen in an inebriated state the day before, and, according to a team-mate, was acting in contravention of an alcohol ban imposed on the squad.

That has since been denied by the GB management - they say there was no alcohol ban.

The press conference was a chance to film the GB squad as they undertook a recovery session in the sea - a bracing affair given that it was chilly and raining when that activity took place.

After that, GB coach Brian Noble was due to give a press conference in the hotel - but he didn't show.

At first we were told he was delayed, then eventually informed that he was in a meeting with his coaching staff and might comment later or indeed, might not speak at all till the following day.

There was no official explanation of what the meeting was about.

Suddenly the Australian press who were with us became suspicious - their instinct for a story told them that all was not well in the GB camp. "Do you think he's getting the sack?" asked one Aussie reporter.

They hadn't seemed to have noticed that Sean had not been in the training session. Those media that did discreetly ask after him were told he had a bicep injury and was undergoing treatment.

In the next few hours it became obvious something to do with Long was unfolding but no-one was willing to tell us what.

I suspect this incident might lead to a cooling of relations between the GB party and the media

Brian Noble agreed to speak to the press at 5.30pm, this was later changed to 7.30pm.

Then a report on an Australian TV news channel at around 5pm (6am back in England) revealed that Long had left the tour party and was flying home.

It claimed it was amid allegations of a betting scandal and within minutes the Press Association in England were reporting the same story.

Suddenly our mobiles were going mad - Radio 4, Radio 5 Live, BBC TV and the BBC Sport website had all picked up the PA report and wanted to know what was happening.

It was confusing as the betting allegations were something none of us had previously heard about.

In hindsight, it's likely the Aussie TV company had picked up the news that Long had gone, trawled through his past record, put two and two together and come up with 38.

They were wrong by a million miles as it had nothing to do with betting.

Another tip from within the GB camp told us Long had gone for personal reasons - his wife was heavily pregnant - but that he had been in trouble for drinking as well. We hadn't yet heard anything official.

At the same time, a couple of our British media colleagues watching the England cricket team play New South Wales at the SCG were tipped off by an NRL official that Long had been sent home and that Aussie journalists were sure it was because of an alcohol-related incident.

It became obvious at this stage that Long's intoxicated behaviour from the previous day was now public knowledge.

Noble said Long had wanted to leave

At a hastily-arranged press conference at the team's headquarters, coach Brian Noble confirmed Long's departure but insisted it was because the player had wanted to go home because of personal circumstances.

The betting allegations were rubbished and we were also told that Sean's behaviour the previous day had nothing to do with his departure.

To us, and no doubt to the Aussie media, that didn't seem to be a straightforward explanation.

The fact Sean's wife was expecting hadn't been raised as a possible issue before and it seemed a little coincidental that his departure had come a day after he had, at the very least, cheesed off the GB staff and embarrassed many of his team-mates with his actions.

Then news broke from England from "sources close to the player" that Sean had had some sort of falling-out with Noble over the drinking incident and that was what precipitated his return home.

I think it's fair to say the general feeling in Australia among British followers of the tour is that Sean let himself down over the incident. There is also a degree of sympathy for the GB coaching staff who had to handle a difficult situation.

I suspect the incident might lead to a cooling of relations between the GB party and the media. They probably see us as a necessary nuisance at the best of times and now we are genuinely irritating because of our role in reporting this story.