Canberra coach David Furner was left to lament his NRL team's "worst game this season" as they crashed to Melbourne 36-12, and it could also prove to be their most costly.

The Storm put a major dent in the Raiders' playoff ambitions with the finals looming with a seven-tries-to-three romp at AAMI Park on Sunday to end Canberra's three-game winning streak.

The Storm continued the Raiders' misery in the Victorian capital, where they haven't won since 2000, and the loss left them floundering outside the top eight in 11th.

Greg Inglis again proved the danger-man for the Raiders, crossing for a second-half try to boost his tally to 10 tries from their past seven meetings, while he also had a hand in several others in a power-packed performance.

"It was probably our worst game this season, definitely the worst second half," Furner said.

"I didn't think we respected the ball enough ... the more we tried the worse it looked."

Canberra skipper Terry Campese was adamant his side could still make the finals.

"We've just got to play like we did the last few weeks and not like we did today," Campese said.

Winger Justin O'Neill, 19 - who re-signed last week for another two years - was another star of the Storm show, scoring tries in each half although he was forced from the field late in the match with a sprained ankle and corked thigh and could miss their clash with Manly.

The visitors dominated early territory and possession but were unable to convert much of that pressure into points.

They trailed 12-4 at halftime with Drury Low, a late replacement for injured fullback Josh Dugan (shoulder), crossing and Jarrod Croker scoring their only other four-pointer in the 71st minute, just after the ground was hit by a hail storm.

Melbourne's tries were shared amongst O'Neill and centre Dane Nielsen, who also scored two, Inglis, Billy Slater and Todd Lowrie.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy revealed after the game his side had struggled to maintain focus at training to prepare for matches during the salary cap investigation and after they were stripped of 2010 competition points and two NRL titles.

He said the release of the report had allowed the players to make plans for the future.

"It's gone back to a little bit more normality," Bellamy said.

"Before that they weren't over-receptive to a few of the processes and systems we've had in place and I didn't want to be over-coaching them during that time because it was a waste of time.

"They're a bit more receptive now to talking about footy and game plans and we're seeing the results of that.

"These players love playing footy and some of that enjoyment has been taken away but it's starting to come back because we are looking toward the future instead of worrying about the present or the past."

Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith said the playing group could now see a light at the end of the tunnel.

"It was hard to have any normality about training but now if there is some light in the tunnel we can see a bit of it.

"We've got five games to go and we're trying to go out each week and play the best we can and finish strongly in the time we've got left together."

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