Melbourne backrower Michael Crocker is in danger of being rubbed out for the start of the State of Origin series after a dangerous lifting tackle in Storm's 38-14 NRL win over Souths.

Storm hooker Cameron Smith finished with an individual haul of 18 points with a try and seven goals in the club's fourth-straight win, but it was Crocker's tackle on South's Shane Rigon which was the main talking point of the match.

The Queensland forward, who was later sin binned in a forgettable night, uprooted Rigon in a one-on-one tackle late in the first half with the Rabbitohs lock falling head first on the Telstra Stadium turf.

Rigon eventually rose gingerly to his feet and walked off the ground before returning early in the second half.

But the incident was placed on report by referee Gavin Badger, with Crocker almost certain to be cited by the NRL match review committee on Monday, placing his 2006 Origin ambitions in doubt.

After two try-saving tackles from fullback Greg Inglis on Souths winger Luke MacDougall in the opening 15 minutes, the Storm always looked in control despite a mini Rabbitohs revival midway through the second half.

Ahead 8-6 at halftime, Melbourne sped to a 20-6 lead 10 minutes after the break after Souths allowed two soft tries to Inglis and Crocker from Scott Hill kicks.

Tempers then over-flowed as Storm centre Ryan Hoffman and Souths prop Jaiman Lowe began trading blows.

Crocker raced in to try to break up the situation - with the bulk of players from both teams not far behind - but only found himself in more hot water as Badger dismissed him for 10 minutes for being the third-man in.

The extra man allowed Souths to cut the deficit to 20-14 with two tries in the next six minutes - the second scored by Kiwi international David Fa'alago being the best four-pointer of the night.

But the revival was short-lived, with Matt Geyer crossing for Melbourne four minutes later, and replacement Jeremy Smith and winger Chris Walker scoring late.

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