NRL: Rabbitohs' struggles in Melbourne continue

The Melbourne Storm celebrate one of their two tries in their victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Photo / Getty Images

South Sydney failed to lay their miserable NRL record in Melbourne to rest with the Storm triumphant 16-12 at AAMI Park.

The defending champions had never won in the Victorian capital and despite a second-half surge, fell just short on their 12th attempt.

The Storm led 16-2 at halftime but Souths fought back with tries through exciting young wingers Alex Johnston and Aaron Gray and held the home side scoreless to put the match on a knife's edge.

They threw everything at Melbourne as the match wound down and Johnston and centre Dylan Walker almost snared the necessary third try with five minutes remaining.

Souths fullback Greg Inglis put a little chip kick through that Johnston batted back in-field for Walker to pounce on and touch down.

However the video referee ruled that Johnston had gone into touch while making the athletic play.

Melbourne looked in full control of the match at halftime, with their tries coming through prop Jesse Bromwich and then centre Will Chambers just before the buzzer.

Both players strolled through gaping holes in the Rabbitohs' defensive line.

The Storm absorbed massive pressure from the visitors and a series of questionable refereeing calls in the opening half to deny Souths any four-pointers.

An uncharacteristic error by Storm winger Marika Koroibete, who lost the ball forward over the tryline, had a 12-point turnaround when a minute later Johnston leapt high for a Luke Keary bomb to touch down.

Gray's try came in the 54th minute to put his team just four points behind Melbourne, which remained the difference between the teams.

While Souths forward Tim Grant was placed on report early in the half for an alleged head-butt, Storm skipper Cameron Smith could find himself under scrutiny from the NRL's match review committee for lashing out with his feet at the head of Issac Luke late in the game.

The Queensland Origin skipper was on his back, pinned under David Tyrell, when he made contact three times but said he didn't even know until post-match that the incident had even happened.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy praised his team's defence but said they went into their shells in the second half in attack as they tried to protect their lead.

"Our defence was the highlight of the performance," Bellamy said.

"We made more mistakes than we wanted but we defended really well."

Souths coach Michael Maguire said there was almost nothing between the teams, referring to Johnston's foot on the line meaning Walker's try was disallowed.

"One foot out is the difference in that game," Maguire said.

"There's a lot of good signs in what I'm seeing."

The win puts Melbourne top of the competition ladder, although on level points with Brisbane and North Queensland.