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Melbourne NRL coach Craig Bellamy says his side drew a line in the sand before a 48-2 smashing of Canberra, which left counterpart Ricky Stuart labelling the Raiders' performance as "really, really embarrassing" and "crap".
The Storm jumped back inside the top four and effectively ended the Raiders' hopes of a double chance in the finals, piling on nine unanswered tries — all from different scorers.
The thrashing could have even more dire consequences for the Raiders, who are just a game inside the top eight with their woeful points differential weighing them down further.
It's the Raiders' fifth loss this season by 22 points or more, with Stuart admitting he was lost for words by the shocking outing in such an important match.
"It wasn't tough at all, it was just embarrassing. (I'm) absolutely embarrassed," he said.
"I don't think I can say much more than that, to be honest, it was just a really, really embarrassing performance. We went away after 20 minutes.
"We weren't prepared to fight for the 80. They were fighting for top-four spots today and (we) deliver up that crap. That's the embarrassing part about it."
Stuart also refused to be drawn into a discussion about news Jarrod Croker had announced his retirement, saying he would speak about it tomorrow, before he walked out of the press conference.
Remarkably, it's the first time in 253 matches the Raiders haven't scored a try, which counts as an NRL record streak.
Their embarrassing display became even worse with two soft late tries.
Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster crossed untouched before fullback Nick Meaney did much the same as the margin ballooned.
Canberra finished the game with 11 men after fullback Jordan Rapana was sin-binned for holding down Nelson Asofa-Solomona before centre Matt Timoko joined his teammate for a high shot.
Melbourne have leap-frogged Cronulla into fourth on the table with games to come against the Dolphins (14th) and Gold Coast (13th) providing an opportunity to shore up a double chance before a final-round blockbuster against Brisbane.
It was a classy response to their 26-6 loss to Penrith last weekend, with Bellamy saying his team had decided it wouldn't continue to accept half-hearted build-ups to games.
"(It was) the best preparation we've had in a few weeks, a couple of months probably," he said.
"We drew a line a bit earlier in the week to be quite honest. The guys decided this is the way we wanted to go.
"(You're) never guaranteed you're going to play like that when you change a couple things, but we played really well.
"We built our game on our defence and that's a bit of old school Melbourne Storm."
Second-rower Eliesa Katoa was damaging as the Storm took control early, finding a clever try assist for centre Reimis Smith before diving over for his own to put them 20-2 clear late in the first half.
Any hope of a Canberra comeback was snuffed early in the second term, as second-rower Trent Loiero powered to the line before Meaney broke through and allowed Harry Grant to cruise over for 32-2.
Canberra were up for the contest early and controlled possession in the first half but looked clunky when they shifted the ball out wide and were punished by a Storm side that looked far more clinical in attack.
The Raiders' terrible points differential plummets even lower to -120 and it could easily keep them out of the finals.
They play Canterbury next before tough matches against Brisbane and Cronulla to close the season.
Their shocking weekend could still grow worse, with Rapana in danger of suspension for a trip on Smith that would leave Canberra searching for a new number one yet again.
Hastings suffers serious ankle injury after hip drop tackle
Newcastle look set to lose Jackson Hastings just as their fairytale finals tilt reaches its most critical stage after he suffered an ankle injury in the 42-6 thrashing of Canterbury.
Hastings went down in agony midway through the first half on Sunday after a hip-drop tackle from Bulldogs rookie Jacob Preston.
He did not require assistance leaving the field at McDonald Jones Stadium but was limping slowly and watched the remainder of the game with ice, and then a moon-boot, on his right foot.
Any long-term absence would be perilous for the Knights, who rely on Hastings as their organising half.
Newcastle have won six consecutive games but likely need to claim two of their last three to guarantee the finals spot that looked out of reach when they sat 14th on the ladder in late June.
Coming clashes with top-eight hopefuls South Sydney and Cronulla could be decisive.
The Bulldogs fell behind 30-0 at half-time in scenes reminiscent of the 66-0 drubbing Newcastle inflicted on them in round 18.
Sunday's game looked set to become a carbon copy of that fixture, but Kalyn Ponga had an uncharacteristically quiet day and the Knights were error-prone after the break.
Back-to-back sin bins reduced the Bulldogs to 11 players for two-and-a-half minutes when they were down 12-0, putting them further behind the pace.
Harrison Edwards was first to go for a professional foul, with Preston joining him for his shot on Hastings.
Some diabolically bad Canterbury defence did the rest of the work in establishing the half-time deficit.
The Bulldogs were two tries down after nine minutes, after Dane Gagai and then Tyson Gamble scooted between Luke Thompson and Viliame Kikau for two of the softest four-pointers this season.
Playing his first game since a pre-season foot injury, big-money Englishman Thompson missed six tackles in his first 16-minute stint.
Incredibly, the Bulldogs enjoyed 16 more tackles in the red zone than the Knights but their only try came when Reed Mahoney barged over from dummy half late on.
The closest the Bulldogs came to scoring in the first half was when Preston failed to ground the ball in-goal just before the break.
Knights centre Enari Tuala then scooped the ball up and ran the length of the field for his own try at the other end. It was that kind of day for Canterbury.
The run home for the NRL's finals contenders
1. PENRITH (38 points, +289) v Titans (away), Eels (home), Cowboys (h)
2. BRISBANE (38, +213) v bye, Raiders (a), Storm (h)
3. WARRIORS (34, +129) v Sea Eagles (h), Dragons (h), Dolphins (a)
4. MELBOURNE (32, +127) v Dragons (a), Titans (h), Broncos (a)
5. CRONULLA (30, +110) v Cowboys (a), Knights (a), Raiders (h)
6. CANBERRA (30, -120) v Bulldogs (h), Broncos (h), Sharks (a)
7. NEWCASTLE (29, +110) v Rabbitohs (h), Sharks (h), Dragons (a)
8. SOUTH SYDNEY (28, +92) v Knights (a), bye, Roosters (h)
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9. NORTH QUEENSLAND (28, +32) v Sharks (h), Dolphins (a), Panthers (a)
10. PARRAMATTA (26, +21) v Roosters (h), Panthers (a), bye
11. SYDNEY ROOSTERS (26, -84) v Eels (a), Tigers (h), Rabbitohs (a)
12. MANLY (25, -47) v Warriors (a), Bulldogs (a), Tigers (h)
AAP
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