George Burgess and Ben Te'o celebrate a try against the Storm. Source: Scott Barbour / Getty Images
The one thing that never crossed my mind when I left AAMI Park last Friday night was to put a line through the chances of South Sydney in relation to this season's title.
In fact despite the 26-8 score-line on the back of four tries to one, I left the Storm's home ground almost as impressed by the vanquished as I was the victors.
Melbourne did what Melbourne do, especially south of the border.
Gain the early ascendency, turn that into points and then defend that lead better than anyone else.
However to my eye there were large periods in the second half when the Rabbits were coming to get them. Unfortunately those periods were soured by some tough calls and a degree of misfortune.
There's no doubt the better side won but I certainly wasn't disappointed in Souths' effort and despite having now lost three of their last four games, I haven't abandoned the bandwagon.
Tune into Sterlo LIVE on Fox Sports 1HD from 7.30pm Thursday, as rugby league's best analyst previews all the big games in round 23 and gets inside the world of Johnathan Thurston.
The visitors couldn't have gotten away to a worse start, conceding two "soft" tries in the opening eight minutes.
Especially soft in that the hard work had been done and should never have led to opposition points.
Cooper Cronk exploring on the 5th tackle only to fling the ball blindly back when his run ended, should have led to Melbourne being closed down after a rare, poor last tackle decision.
Instead the laziness of inside defenders allowed Will Chambers to waltz through almost untouched to open proceedings.
No excuse at all for Souths but a reinforcement that you can never tune out, even when you see the ball is going the other way. In the NRL it will invariably come back and find you out.
The second try was just as poor in that the Rabbits had defended Melbourne's attack and kick only to have Dylan Farrell gang-tackled back into his own in-goal and forced into error.
Kudos to the Storm defence but both of these tries should have been prevented.
At this stage things looked particularly ominous for Souths and a big defeat stared them squarely in the face.
This was a test of character and in my opinion they passed.
Ten minutes into the second half the Storm led 14-8 but the Rabbits were physically on top.
Sam Burgess was then penalised for tackling Billy Slater in the air. He wasn't.
Six tackles later, after a sublime Cronk pass, Sisa Waqa was ruled to have scored. He didn't.
Again Souths should have been able to defend disappointment but even at 18-8 the run of general play indicated that they were still very much alive in the contest.
That was until they were dealt a double blow with an injury to Dylan Farrell.
Not only was the young winger eventually carried from the field but the time it took for extended medical assistance definitely helped Melbourne's cause.
While they maintained a 10-point lead going into the final quarter of the game they were looking particularly fatigued and a substantial punctuation in play was extremely beneficial.
Again Melbourne reacted better to the situation to regather and soon after ice the game with a try to Justin O'Neill.
Now much of this might sound like a litany of excuses for the South Sydney performance but I just felt that the final margin wasn't a true reflection of the contest I witnessed.
There are definitely a number of areas that need to be addressed as a result of their trip to the southern capital but I do think they would have returned to Sydney more encouraged than discouraged.
Their credentials will get another significant test tomorrow night against a Manly team gathering good momentum as the play-offs approach.
The Eagles may be positioned back in third spot but they are already playing a finals style of football and come off a comfortable victory over the Warriors.
Souths' chances are obviously enhanced with the return of big guns Greg Inglis and John Sutton but the absence of Sam Burgess is a blow.
There's no defence for the big Englishman whose frustration would have been better vented by a defensive shoulder to an attacker's rib cage than an indiscretion lower down.
What is hard to fathom is the thought that a silly action like that would not be picked up by the numerous camera angles that are focussed in on every aspect of play.
Twenty-four hours before that game I'm delighted and excited to continue an inside look into the inner sanctum of the NRL.
On my show on Fox Sports on Thursday night at 7.30pm you will see and hear the game's best player Johnathan Thurston wearing a microphone as he produces another five-star, man-of-the-match performance against the Panthers.
Two weeks ago with Kevin Kingston we dipped our toe into the unknown. This week we dive right in.
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