Sydney Roosters have suffered another major hit to their NRL premiership hopes as Melbourne's crew of young guns staged a 26-4 ambush at the SCG.
The loss will hurt less than the growing casualty ward with Luke Keary, Mitch Aubusson (elbow) and Lachlan Lam (ankle) all taken from the field on Thursday night.
Test five-eighth Luke Keary was helped from the field in severe pain in the 63rd minute and was later taken to hospital by paramedics with what was first thought to be a rib injury.
In the sheds, concerns grew for a ruptured spleen given the location of the hit where he was whacked by Storm centre Brenko Lee.
He was running and trying to stay on but we could see it," Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
"It was actually our call to get him off rather than his call in the end.
"He sent (the trainer) away, but you've got to save them from themselves sometimes."
Aubusson and Lam were both replaced in the first half and did not return, leaving coach Trent Robinson with just Poasa Faamausili on the bench for the final 20 minutes of the match.
There are fears a fractured wrist would mean Aubusson has played his final match for the club given the 301-game player is off-contract at the end of the season.
"I don't really want to think about that now," Robinson said.
It adds to an already swollen injury list that includes Boyd Cordner, Brett Morris, Victor Radley, Daniel Tupou, Angus Crichton and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
But Robinson didn't allow it as an excuse.
"We were poor tonight, we got outplayed. We can talk about injuries and I can talk about how unlucky we were but we got outplayed," he said.
"We've had games before where we've finished with one on the bench or none on the bench and we've played really well but we got out-footyed tonight."
The Roosters struggled under the dominance of Melbourne who were steered around the park by Jahrome Hughes behind a ferocious pack.
Missing superstars Cameron Smith and Cameron Munster, the likes of Brandon Smith, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Justin Olam and Hughes delivered for Storm.
A remarkable 13 offloads gassed the Roosters through the middle as Melbourne forwards dominated field position and delivered second-phase play for their speedy backs.
The Roosters were set upon from the opening minute and it took just five for Hughes to cut through try-line defence to score.
A silky passing sequence between Olam and Papenhuyzen delivered the second try 20 minutes in to lead 14-0 at halftime.
An offload from prop Christian Welch gave Olam his second try in the 46th minute, while a line break from Smith put Felise Kaufusi under the posts just two minutes later.
The Roosters remained scoreless until the 64th minute when winger Christian Tuipulotu scored on debut, but the result was already over.
As if their NRL dominance wasn't clear enough, the Storm have now had eight-game winning streaks in all of their past four seasons.
"I was really proud of our guys tonight," coach Craig Bellamy.
"I know the Roosters have got a lot of injuries, and unfortunately for them they had a couple again tonight.
"Losing a guy like Keary, he's one of the elite players in the competition."
They are top of the NRL ladder, while the Roosters remain clinging to the top four.