Melbourne withstood a South Sydney second-half attacking deluge to reclaim top spot on the NRL ladder with a 14-6 win in Perth.

After they went to the break leading 10-6, the Storm’s defence was watertight as they held out 22 play-the-balls in their 20-metre zone in the next half hour.

Souths had 55 per cent of the ball in the second period, and forced the Storm to make an extra 48 tackles, but Rabbitohs halves Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker could do little with it.

Instead it was the Storm who finally crossed, as Suliasi Vunivalu slammed the ball down with six minutes to go against the run of play to seal the win.

It was a return to the Melbourne’s typical stonewall defence, after they conceded 38 points in their shock loss to the Gold Coast last week.

The Storm’s likely Queensland Origin quartet of Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Will Chambers were all on song in their final hit-out before the series opener on May 31.

They combined perfectly for the Storm’s first try, as Slater provided a basketball-style pass for Chambers to score in the fifth minute.

Slater busted through four tackles while Smith banked a 40-20 kick to go with his hefty tackle count of 52.

Cronk also set up the Storm’s second try, when he grubbered for winger Josh Addo-Carr to score within metres of the dead-ball line in the right-hand corner.

NSW Origin aspirant Robbie Farah had a hand in Souths’ only try, darting out of dummy-half to find John Sutton to barrel over in the 15th minute.

But they couldn’t cross the line when it mattered most.

Rabbitohs captain Sam Burgess was also left frustrated at halftime when Melbourne failed to have a defender in the halfback position at a scrum on the Storm’s line with seconds to play.

He also accused Storm players of putting him in a “choker hold” in a tackle which was not penalised.