I’ve seen plenty of ‘bandwagon’ supporters in my time.

There were the ones who got on board the Cowboy Express when North Queensland won their way through to a grand final against Wests Tigers in 2005.

When the Brisbane Lions won three straight premierships, their membership base mysteriously exploded after they were treated like lepers during the disastrous ‘Bad News Bears’ era.

And who can forget the Socceroos at the last World Cup?

I remember back in my days at high school when a classmate of mine had ‘Raiders Rule’ written all over her pencil case after Canberra won the 1994 grand final against Canterbury.

All of a sudden the following year, when the Doggies got up against Manly in the big one, that had been covered up by a healthy dose of White Out and ‘Bulldogs Rule’ plastered over the top.

Those sort of ‘fair weather’ fans really got me worked up, because as a supporter of the Raiders in the NRL and Collingwood in the AFL, I’ve seen more than my fair share of bad times.

It’s why the 19,423 brave souls who turned up to watch Melbourne win its first AFL game of the season, and likewise the 9818 South Sydney supporters that paid to watch the Bunnies break their duck against North Queensland, deserve a big pat on the back.

Many Demons supporters would have been kicking themselves (like everyone was for not taking the Melbourne-Souths double at the TAB) for leaving the ground when Freo looked absolute certainties with a 50-point halftime lead.

But that’s what real supporters do. They endure the hard times because they know if they do so, the good times will be that much sweeter.

Melbourne and Souths fans would have celebrated the victories like they’d won a grand final last night and those who legitimately stuck behind their team deserved to.

Can anyone please explain to me why Anthony Laffranchi wasn’t rushed into the Kangaroos camp when Darren Lockyer was ruled out with a knee injury?

After the Aussie skipper was told he wouldn’t play Greg Bird, selected at lock, was shifted to five-eighth with Michael Crocker coming into the 17.

But why was the Storm hardman given the nod when Laffranchi was originally named as 18th man, and put in a man-of-the-match performance in the City-Country match?

The only reason I can think of is that Kangaroos coach Ricky Stuart is looking out for one of his favourite players in Crocker, whom he coached a couple of years back when both were at the Roosters.

Laffranchi is very hard done by and is entitled to a ‘please explain’.

Fellow Daily sports columnist Peter Gardiner’s twin Warren Ryan is well respected for his views on all things rugby league through his role as a commentator on ABC Radio.

The ‘Wok’ came up with an idea during Sunday’s call of the Cowboys-Rabbits clash that could well be worth considering.

Ryan suggested that the NRL may want to look at changing the points system, where a team gets two points for winning each half and and an extra point for winning the match.

That way, he said, sides behind by a considerable margin at halftime will have motivation to come out and win the second half, rather than just go through the motions.

It would also maintain interest in the match, at least some way into the second half, if a game turns into a blowout.

Very doubtful where the game’s powerbrokers would ever have the guts to implement it, but it’s an interesting proposal.