Canterbury went in as underdogs but took the game up to Melbourne early and were rewarded with the opening try through Jake Preston who stormed onto a Reed Mahoney pass and got the ball down.
When a Storm player was binned in the 25th minute, the Bulldogs pounced as winger Jacob Kiraz made it 10-0.
Another dazzling attacking raid freed up former Storm man Josh Addo-Carr and he dived in to make it 16-0 with Matt Burton’s conversion.
Kiraz got across his second try early in the second half before Mahoney nailed another in the 48th minute along with Jake Averillo, making it 26-0.
The Storm took their first steps on the long road back to score and cut the margin to 20.
They soon went in again but were out of puff and time and the Bulldogs held on for their first win at AAMI Park since 2016.
A thrilled Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said they played a style of footy they’d been training for all pre-season.
“We’ve got good players with some strike and we’ve got very skilful players and that’s the way we are going to play,” he said.
The Bulldogs next take on the Tigers on Sunday at their Belmore home ground from 4.05pm.
Other competition results: The Knock On Effect NSW Cup, Bulldogs d Dragons, 34-4; Jersey Flegg Cup, Bulldogs d Dragons, 32-10; UNE Harold Matthews Cup, Bulldogs d CC Roosters, 18-10; UNE SG Ball Cup, Bulldogs d Storm, 60-6; Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership, Steelers d Bulldogs, 16-10; Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup, Bulldogs d Steelers, 34-0; Lisa Fiaola Cup, Steelers d Bulldogs, 30-10.
