It has been a happy hunting ground in Melbourne for the Warriors in recent times but it was not for Krisnan Inu last night as he made errors that cost his side the chance of upsetting the competition leader.
The Storm has been unbeatable this season and, although the Warriors could not change that, they came a lot closer than the scoreline suggested.
They did it on the back of a whole-hearted effort that sometimes rattled the home side.
They played with power and purpose on both attack and defence as they took Melbourne on at its own game and they should get a lot of confidence out of the performance.
The fact they could not win had as much to do with the fact the Storm is a brilliant side - and it won its eight match of the season - as a couple of inexplicable errors from Inu.
The centre, who was thrust into the fullback duties in the sixth minute when Kevin Locke was forced off with a painful sternum injury, firstly dropped the ball when carrying it in one hand under little pressure and then tried an ill-advised offload to winger Bill Tupou late in the match close to his own line.
On both occasions, Melbourne scored in the following set.
The Storm does not need charity and it would have been galling for a number of Inu's team-mates who had done all the hard work to get the Warriors into the contest.
They were the sorts of mistakes that have seen Inu's career slide from the heights of his opening season.
He is blessed with so much talent but is prone to silly errors that puts his team under pressure and, in a game where errors are magnified, was a liability.
The second error came in the 72nd minute with Melbourne leading 20-14 and the game in the balance. The Storm then piled on two late tries to give the score a flattering look.
The Warriors did not deserve to lose by so much and they can take some comfort from the fact they pushed the home side so close.
They knew the only way they would stay in the contest was if they held on to the football.
They did that very well, completing 82% of the sets, and it was Melbourne which looked a little straggly in the early exchanges.
The home side made uncharacteristic errors, sometimes on its first set, which put it under pressure and the Warriors capitalised with two excellent tries to Bill Tupou and another to Lewis Brown.
But this Melbourne side is not easily rattled and the machine quickly rumbled into gear.
Will Chambers scored a hat trick and his centres partner Dane Nielsen a double but it was the constant pressure from Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Cameron Smith that caused the Warriors problems.
The Warriors' forwards were excellent all night. Ben Matulino, Russell Packer and Feleti Mateo got through their work, Manu Vatuvei ran powerfully for 117m and Tupou finished superbly.
But sadly, it was difficult to ignore Inu's contribution.
Result: Melbourne 32 (W Chambers 3, D Nielsen 2, J O'Neill tries; C Smith 4 goals), Warriors 14 (B Tupou 2, L Brown tries; J Maloney goal) HT: 10-6.
