The Bulldogs head into Round Two against an impressive Roosters side, who blew the Gold Coast Titans off the park in the opening 40 of their round one match-up.
The tri-colours led 28 nil at the break, whereas the Bulldogs experienced the reverse against the Storm.
Within six minutes of the kick-off at Belmore, the Bulldogs trailed last season’s finalists, 10 nil and despite a fightback, the home side was unable to catch up in atrocious conditions.
The start to any game is important and it’s an area the players and coaching staff have addressed ahead of Thursday’s match at Allianz Stadium.
“We knew what went wrong in the game. It was how we started in the first half. Melbourne scored two very easy tries in the first six minutes and they were kept scoreless after that. Our main focus for this week is our start,” said Raymond Faitala-Mariner.
“The start got us and, unfortunately, we couldn’t recover. It’s Round One of a marathon season and we’re not going to let this result get us down,” added Will Hopoate.