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Ok, this is how it all went down in Melbourne Town yesterday afternoon. The Storm led 26-0 by half-time. They were all over their opposition and scoring points almost at will. It was men against boys.

The Wests Tigers fought back in the second half to a position of only six points behind with 15 minutes left to play at 26-20. They were exciting to watch as they threw the ball around in pursuit of quick points. They had the home side rattled.

The Storm then steadied over the concluding stages, kicking a field goal and a penalty goal to secure a 29-20 victory.

Just when it looked like they were about to crash to an incredible loss, team leaders Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk steered the good ship away from the rocks and into calmer waters. Just another day at the office for these two grand players.

That was the scoring trend of an entertaining game of rugby league in Melbourne yesterday.

Why did it all play out the way it did? One side was so dominant in the first half, only to see the direct opposite occur once the two teams returned for the second half?

How is it that in modern day football we see so games change like this and no lead is ever big enough to say victory is assured?

It was an unbelievable, yet highly exciting game of football.  The Tigers only have themselves to blame for this loss. They gifted Melbourne a big lead in the first half through their own fragile mindset.

The one thing you have to do when you play the Melbourne Storm; you must bring your "A" game.  I won't say you have to be perfect, because no team is ever perfect. However, you can't bring anything but your best to the contest, if you hold any hope whatsoever of getting yourself a win.

I don't know how far down the alphabet we have to go to grade the Wests Tigers first-half performance in Melbourne yesterday, but it wasn't within a cooee of  an A.

Now, before we go blaming this loss on poor play from the visiting team in the first 40  minutes, let me say that the home side, the Storm, were again tremendous during this period and thoroughly deserved their 26-0 half time lead.

They are not only a well-coached, well-drilled, well-organised football team; they are a "thinking man's" team.

Evidence of this was the half-time comments of their halfback  Cronk on his way to the dressing rooms. He explained to viewers that the Storm did well to adjust their attacking game to counter the defensive structures their opponents had brought to the contest.

The Tigers were aggressive in the early stages of the match. They raced up quickly from out wide, cutting off the Melbourne playmaker from making his plays. They may have cut down his playmaking time, but they didn't cut down his thinking time.

Cronk made the necessary adjustments on the run and it wasn't long before his ball runners were finding big spaces out wide. He had the Wests Tigers on the run and had the half-time siren not sounded when it did, the Melbourne scoring would've continued.

When the teams returned for the second half, you could be excused for thinking the two teams had changed jerseys during the break.

All of a sudden the Tigers players were the ones with all the energy. More than any team in the NRL competition, these youngsters actually look like they enjoy trying to run down big deficits. It allows them to play with freedom. Their is no expectation of winning, so there is no pressure on their game. They run free, just the way they like it.

Chasing down a 26-point deficit against the best defensive team in the competition is one stiff assignment. The Tigers were actually making it look easy.

There is no doubt they had the Storm rattled. The Storm players were forced into errors and conceding soft penalties. Their defensive structures started to fall apart. This normally unflappable group of young men became increasingly frustrated.

After a torrid period where it looked like they had spiralled out of control, the Storm eventually settled down to secure the win.

If you'd said prior to the match that the Storm would defeat the Tigers by nine  points, I don't think anyone would've been surprised by such a prediction.

The two teams sure found an unpredictable way to get to such a predictable result though.

It's a funny game, rugby league.