A second half fight back has seen the Melbourne Storm claim a piece of history with a 34-20 victory over a gallant Gold Coast Titans team on Thursday evening.
Equalling the premiership record of 19 wins in a row set by Eastern Suburbs in 1975, the Storm defied a halftime deficit to all but confirm the minor premiership with two rounds remaining in the home-and-away season.
The Titans got off to a dream start after George Jennings came up with an error inside the Melbourne half with Patrick Herbert breaking away from the ensuing scrum before linking with Greg Marzhew (2nd minute) who crashed over in the corner.
Continuing to capitalise on errors made by their opponents, the underdogs defied expectations after replacement fullback Jayden Campbell (11th minute) swooped on a bat-back from Herbert to take the lead out to 10-0.
Getting back into the contest midway through the first half with two tries within four minutes, Marion Seve (23rd minute) finished off a break by Josh Addo-Carr before Harry Grant (27th minute) surged through the home side's retreating defence to put the Storm up 12-10.
Striking a huge blow to retake the lead prior to the change of ends, an Ashley Taylor bomb aimed towards the posts saw Campbell (33rd minute) outleap Cameron Munster for his second of the night.
Forced to reshuffle their backline after Jennings aggravated the same knee injury which kept him on the sidelines for the past four weeks, Munster (45th minute) took it upon himself to burrow over from close range to put the Storm back in front with a converted try.
Making the Titans pay for an error ten metres out from the try line, tries to Josh Addo-Carr (57th minute) and Nicho Hynes (61st minute) gave the Storm peace of mind to play out the match with the result beyond doubt.
Munster capped a man of the match performance with a long-range break which allowed Addo-Carr (70th minute) to equal his personal best tally of 23 tries in a season.
A late consolation four-pointer to Tyrone Peachey (76th minute) proved inconsequential as the Storm ran out 34-20 winners.
Next week, the Titans face the Knights on Thursday night in a match set to have huge implications on the top eight, while the Storm will look to make history against the Eels on Saturday evening.