Melbourne Storm claimed its fourth consecutive victory in a hard-fought win over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon.
In a grinding first half, the Bulldogs opened the scoring through a try to Kerrod Holland.
Rhyse Martin kicked truly to secure the conversion.
Jayden Okunbor crossed again for the Bulldogs with only 16 minutes left in the half and another Martin conversion stretched the lead out to 12-0.
The home side's first points arrived with just seven minutes remaining via a penalty try to Will Chambers, who was interfered with as he was about to touch down.
Cam Smith converted and edged closer to the all-time points scored record - the margin reduced to 12-6 at the break.
Jahrome Hughes laid a huge one-on-one tackle on Okunbor in the opening minutes of the second half, setting the tone for the rest of the match.
Tui Kamikamica scored his first-ever try in an NRL game and the skipper again kicked truly to tie the scores up at 12-12.
Ryan Papenhuyzen made his debut with 12 minutes left on the clock and moments later Cam Munster scored an electrifying try to give Storm its first lead for the match.
Cam Smith converted and now needs only two points to equal Hazem El Masri's points scored record of 2,418.
In a scintillating finish, Bulldogs winger Reimis Smith scored a try with only minutes left on the clock.
Martin - typically a textbook-perfect kick - missed the conversion, allowing Storm to claim its fourth win in a row with a final margin of 18-16.
Head coach Craig Bellamy acknowledged luck was a factor in the win, given the Bulldogs were firing early.
"We were lucky to get the win, the Bulldogs were very energetic tonight," he said post-match.
"We’ve got off to a good start (this season) but we still have a lot to improve on."
He said he was especially impressed with Hughes and Kamikamica.
"Tui has done a terrific job for us this year, hopefully he’ll be able to play more minutes as we go along, he’s making really good progress," he said.
"Jahrome showed a lot of courage to lay those big tackles, he put his body on the line."
