The Canterbury Bulldogs have left many stunned as they have gone down to Melbourne and done what most teams can't do and win, as they ran out 26-12 winners over the Storm after leading 26-0 at one stage.
The Storm had the field position early but it quickly shifted to the Bulldogs and it was their fan-favourite rookie Jacob Preston who got over the line first and despite a live decision of No Try from referee Chris Butler, the bunker was quick to award the try.
Melbourne were looking to put the pressure on the Bulldogs but couldn't and the momentum shifted off a poor Harry Grant kick that went dead and gave the Bulldogs a 7 tackle set. The Storm looked lost in attack and it was a poor few minutes for Young Tonumaipea who handed over the ball on last tackle without an attacking yelp before being sin binned for taking out Jake Averillo who didn't have the ball in an attacking raid.
The Bulldogs then took advantage with two quick tries first coming through Jacob Kiraz who scored in the corner after the Dogs were able to exploit the numbers whilst Josh Addo-Carr added the third when again Canterbury were able to exploit the extra man. This time it was going from side to side with mesmerising passing that left Melbourne shocked as the Fox pulled off a trademark dive for the corner.
On the stroke of half time, the Bulldogs had a Viliame Kikau try called back when a kick through from Matt Burton was knocked on by Josh Addo-Carr in the lead up. Despite that overturn, the Bulldogs still had an unexpected 16-0 lead at the break.
If Craig Bellamy wasn't happy about the first half, he was going to be furious about the start to the second half when Jacob Kiraz picked up his second try of the night when the Melbourne defence looked so brittle as Reed Mahoney fooled them by looking left before going right and finding Kiraz.
The final Bulldogs try was even worse when Jake Averillo just had a wide open gap to go through from dummy half and the Bulldogs lead 26-0.
At that point it looked a mere formality but the Storm aren't ones to give up and they didn't when Nelson Asofa-Solomona crossed from close range to give hope. The Bulldogs seemed to go back into their shells and some ill-discipline gave the Storm a big chance of getting back into the game.
The Bulldogs looked to be struggling with the momentum shift as Jahrome Hughes was able to get over as the Storm threw the ball around finding cracks in the Bulldogs defence.
Neither side was then able to get on the board though the Storm were trying to get on the board but couldn't and the 26-12 scoreline stood for the last 20 minutes of the contest.
The victory doesn't come without a potential cost for the Bulldogs with Viliame Kikau sin binned and placed on report for a blatant trip and could catch the ire of the Match Review Committee.
Next weekend, the Storm head to the Gold Coast for a clash with the Titans whilst the Bulldogs boosted by the win will head to their Spiritual home in Belmore as they host the Wests Tigers on Sunday afternoon.