A FEARSOME Melbourne side secured their second successive minor premiership after trouncing the Bulldogs, and relieved Storm coach Craig Bellamy finally admitted after weeks of "lying" that his side had been struggling prior to last night's demolition job.

With just one round remaining before the finals, Melbourne sit atop the NRL ladder with 42 points and cannot be caught by second-placed Manly (36 points with two games to play). They stormed home in the final quarter of last night's match to record a 38-6 win over the Bulldogs at Telstra Stadium.

A blistering 11-minute period in the second half in which the Storm scored four tries - including a hat-trick to teenage rookie Israel Folau - sent the crowd packing and the Dogs' top four hopes reeling.

"I'm feeling a bit better now than what we were two weeks ago, without a doubt," Bellamy said. When it was put to Bellamy that he had insisted there was nothing to worry about in the past fortnight as Melbourne struggled to score points, he explained that he was "telling a little white lie".

"I thought [we] responded great in the second half. I thought we really took some steps forward with the ball, while we maintained our good defence," he said.

The visitors turned up the heat on a wet night from the 58th minute when Matt Geyer crossed out wide. It was the start of an avalanche as Folau's giant mitts took the game by the scruff of its neck.

Bulldogs fans who had to endure a blood-boiling traffic crawl to get into the ground before the match - due to a concert at an adjoining venue - decided to leave well before the hooter sounded. A large section of the 21,756 people in the stands started walking when Folau's second try took the score to 26-6, and when the gigantic youngster scored his third after a comical error in the 69th, there was a mass exodus.

Storm captain Cameron Smith said while first place was secured, the pain of losing last year's grand final meant there would be no premature celebration.

"The big lesson we learnt last year is that it doesn't matter if you get the minor premiership … it doesn't matter if you finish first or eighth," he said.

After 58 minutes, Billy Slater set up Geyer by throwing a beautiful cut-out pass. The winger juggled the ball and then stepped inside a defender to score closer to the posts. Two minutes later Folau scored from a Cooper Cronk chip kick following a long break by Smith. Five minutes after that, Folau out-leapt Bulldogs winger Cameron Phelps to take another Cronk kick, and powered his way to the line.

Dogs fullback Luke Patten tried to kick a loose ball back to teammate Ben Roberts in the 69th minute, and Roberts lost control. Folau was on hand to run away for his third. Storm replacement Jeff Lima rubbed salt into the Dogs' wounds by dummying his way to the line with two minutes left.

Melbourne had taken an 8-6 lead into the break following a frustratingly stop-start affair, with both teams guilty of poor handling. The sides were barely distinguishable by their similar white jerseys, and decided to mimic each others' errors as well.

There was a flash of brilliance from Slater, who scored the opening try of the match by motoring to a grubber kick by Smith.

"I thought we played a really patient game of football," Slater said. "They broke up the middle and we capitalised. We did all the hard work in the first half and early in the second to set it up."

And the incredible run of Storm back-rower Michael Crocker continued, as he took his winning record to 19 matches and is still undefeated while playing with Melbourne.

"I haven't played too many games," Crocker said. "They've lost about seven games in the last two years so it's not hard to have a record like that."

Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes was in a reflective mood afterwards, saying he was happy that his side had been able to compete for 60 minutes with the competition's "benchmark".

MELBOURNE 38 (IFolau 3, MGeyer, JLima, BSlater tries; CSmith 6, IFolau goals) bt BULLDOGS 6 (JHickey try; HElMasri goal) at Telstra Stadium. Referee: BCummins. Crowd: 21,756.