"The lack of resilience, the lack of desire. It's not the Bulldogs. It's not the Bulldogs that I know. It's not the Bulldogs that I played for."
Dogs fans had at least one reason to cheer in the first half, though — in his first game of the season, bench forward Luke Thompson crashed over the chalk to score the Bulldogs' first points in 265 minutes of football.
The Dogs hadn't scored a single point since round one, having been held scoreless by the Panthers, Broncos and Rabbitohs in the weeks since.
Despite breaking their drought, the Bulldogs were still outscored five tries to one in the first stanza.
Commentators were left reeling when Felise Kaufusi fooled the Bulldogs defence with a dummy to score the Storm's first in the third minute.
Anasta was gobsmacked by the try, calling it "one of the simplest tries you'll see in 2021".
Big men Christian Welch and Tui Kamikamica crashed over for tries of their own later in the half, after halfback Jahrome Hughes connected with a Cam Munster kick to find the line in the 11th minute.
The first half was marred by a scuffle between the two sides, which resulted in Ofahiki Ogden and Nelson Asofa-Solomona heading to the sin bin for ten minutes each.
George Jennings iced an almost perfect half of footy from the Storm when he crossed in the 38th, helping his side to a 30-6 halftime lead.
It was Jennings who set up the Storm's first try of the second half as well. The winger put up a well-placed kick which found Ryan Papenhuyzen at pace. Papenhuyzen outran Doggies halfback Kyle Flanagan to notch his seventh try of the season.
The Bulldogs began to find their feet in the second term, striking back through a try to Jake Averillo.
An uncharacteristic error from Papenhuyzen gave the Bulldogs another opportunity to attack, and when Dallin Watene-Zeleniak managed to hold onto a Jake Averillo kick, the Canterbury faithful dared to dream.
"The Bulldogs are on a bit of a roll here," Anasta commented.
Time wasn't on the Bulldogs' side, however, and their hopes were dashed when Justin Olam crossed for Melbourne in the 68th minute. Late tries to Josh Addo-Carr and Nicho Hynes added insult to injury.
Canterbury will hope to open their account with a win over fellow battlers, the Cowboys, next week. Both sides are yet to win a match in 2021.
Bulldogs in 2021
Round 1 v Knights - Lost by 16 poibts
Round 2 v Panthers - Lost by 28 points
Round 3 v Broncos - Lost by 24 points
Round 4 v Rabbitons - Lost by 38 points
Round 5 v Storm - Lost by 34 points
Points for: 34
Points against: 174
