Gifted Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk bagged two tries as the Storm extended Canterbury's NRL misery with a 28-18 triumph at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

The ladder leaders scored five tries to three, dominating the butter-fingered Bulldogs whose slide from finals contention continued with a seventh loss in nine matches.

The Storm stretched their winning streak to six in a row with a comprehensive victory in the Bulldogs' nominal home game attended by 9963 spectators in the South Australian capital.

Cronk and teammates Jesse Bromwich, Sisa Waqa and Matthew Duffie all scored tries while Bulldogs fullback Ben Barba, David Stagg and Steve Turner crossed for tries for their battling outfit.

The Storm established a defining 16-6 halftime lead with three opening half tries, and then snuffed out a brief Bulldogs revival after the break.

Canterbury lock Stagg scored his try after a rare period of sustained attacking pressure from the Dogs started the second half and reduced their deficit to just four points.

But Cronk then set up winger Duffie in the 60th minute with a deftly placed high kick - which was finished off by an incredible put-down - before the halfback crossed for his second try six minutes later to seal the result.

Turner gave his side a consolation try in the 77th minute but Canterbury's chances of giving beleaguered coach Kevin Moore some breathing space were hurt by a series of basic blunders.

Fullback Barba continued his recent nervousness under high balls by spilling bombs, as did Turner, while Jonathon Wright's knock-on at bootlace level gifted the Storm possession which they turned into the opening try of the match just six minutes in.

The Bulldogs also frequently coughed up possession, missed tackles and were vulnerable in defence against a rampant Storm who mixed their customary defensive dominance with threatening attacking forays.

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy said he was pleased with an improved attacking performance.

"We took a couple of steps forward tonight with our attack, I thought it was a little bit better," Bellamy said.

"A couple of things we worked on really hard during the week came off for us.

"But we got a little bit too adventurous a couple of times, I thought we gifted the Bulldogs a couple of tries ... by just going away from what we planned to do.

"But at the end of the day they had a really good attitude to start the game and we took a couple of steps forward with our attack."

Canterbury coach Kevin Moore lamented his side's inability to ride their second half momentum.

"At 16-12 with 20 minutes to go, I thought we were coming over the top of them," Moore said.

"We had them up their end of the field and I thought if we came up with the right play at the right time we would go on and win the game.

"But you're talking about a game against the competition leaders with a great calibre of players."

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