BAD news travels fast in Rugby League. At exactly 11.28am on Wednesday the official media release on the extent of Brett Stewart’s left knee injury was sent to media outlets around Australia.

At 11.30am Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler fronted a media conference at the club’s training headquarters at the Sydney Academy of Sport at Narrabeen to give the news first-hand and to conduct television, radio and newspaper interviews.

By 11.35am the websites from the newspapers and the television and radio news carried the story.

A shattered Stewart had earlier arrived to attend a team meeting to tell his mates first hand that he would be sidelined for a lengthy period for the second season in succession.

The team, his football club, its supporters and the game he loves is Stewart’s rock as he prepares for a legal battle and his democratic right to prove his innocence over allegations and a charge he has been living with for over 12 months.

It has been a year from hell for Stewart and his close family and friends. But as anyone who has been involved in allegations will tell you one soon finds out who your true friends are.

As I watched Hasler in the media conference my mobile rang. It was Cronulla coach and former Australian coach Ricky Stuart wanting Brett Stewart’s mobile number so he could send a message of support. Stewart was coach of Australia when the Manly fullback made his Test debut against New Zealand in 2007.

Officials from the NRL who had worked with Stewart in NSW Origin teams were quick to offer their best wishes while fans from all over jammed the Sea Eagles switchboard. Stewart next week will undergo surgery on his latest injury and then start the long, lonely rehabilitation program. It is a period he detests. Hour after hour pedalling a bike for months on end before he is allowed to even jog.

The irony is that Stewart was blasting his best-ever speed tests in the lead up to last Monday’s Wests Tigers game. Now 25, Stewart has plenty of football ahead of him but he needs “Lady Luck” to give him a couple of seasons without serious injury. Surely this likeable young man has had enough bad luck of late to last him a lifetime.

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