The Melbourne Storm have bounced back from last week's disappointing loss to the Canberra Raiders, with a 22-8 win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs at AAMI Park on Friday night.
Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster led the way with two try assists as Melbroune claimed their third win of the season.
Both sides were sloppy, but Storm coach Craig Bellamy was pleased to see his side bounce back after last week's "embarrassing" loss.
Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen opened the scoring in the eighth minute, but it didn't take long for the Rabbitohs to hit back as Alex Johnston scored his side's only try.
But the Storm would take a 8-6 halft-time lead as Suliasi Vunivalu pounced on a favorable bounce to score in the corner.
Chasing their first-ever win in Melbourne, Souths kicker Adam Reynolds levelled the scores in the 50th minute thanks to a penalty goal.
The Storm went back two ahead with a penalty goal of their own seven minutes later.
After Johnston was denied his second try of the night, the Storm scored a decisive try in the 66th minute when Munster found winger Josh Addo-Carr with a pinpoint cross-field kick.
Munster then set up Justin Olam just before full-time to put the result beyond doubt.
"A lot of times during that game we were rocking and rolling but we still managed to find a way to stop tries," Bellamy said.
"The opposition made plenty of errors which made it easier on us.
"I was disappointed last week with some of our effort areas and I think they were much better."
Bellamy also suggested that the Storm would start using more of their lower-grade players as the coronavirus-enforced shutdown has made squad rotation more important.
He handed Brenko Lee a club debut, while forward Chris Lewis earned an NRL debut off the bench, aged 27.
The longer it goes the harder it is to [give players a chance]," Bellamy said.
"If they're not paying footy you're going to be doubtful about their match fitness and stick with the guys you've got there.
"It's really important for that reason we get our fringe players playing. The main reason is for their mental wellbeing and being able to put themselves on display and say 'I'm going good here, pick me in first grade'."
