Ricky Stuart has made a winning start to his coaching career at Canberra with the Raiders rolling over Melbourne 20-12 in their NRL trial.
Stuart re-joined the club where he made his name as a player, leaving wooden-spooners Parramatta.
In sweltering conditions at AAMI Park, both teams made plenty of handling errors as they blew away the off-season cobwebs.
Stuart gave former halfback Josh McCrone his first run at hooker in the first half and he looked right at home, while No.7 Mitch Cornish also impressed.
The Raiders opened the scoring through winger Mosese Pangai, with the teams going into halftime locked at 4-4 after the Storm's stand-in skipper Kevin Proctor touched down.
Back-rower Joel Edwards set up a try for Jordan Ropana for Canberra to regain the lead but, again, Melbourne levelled through promising winger Young Tonumaipea.
The home side pulled ahead thanks to a four-pointer from Hymel Hunt however two late Raiders tries scored by Jack Ahearn and Brenko Lee sealed the win.
Ben Hampton made a strong push for the vacant Storm five-eighth jersey.
Following the departure of England international Gareth Widdop to St George Illawarra, the Storm are testing their talent for a new No.6 to partner Cooper Cronk.
Hampton, 21, started the match at five-eighth and was one of the home side's best, setting up Proctor's try.
With their stars - skipper Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cronk rested - another standout for Melbourne was feisty Canterbury recruit Joel Romelo, who spent time at hooker and halfback.
Former Manly prop George Rose, playing his first match in Storm colours, had some solid runs in the tough conditions.
Stuart said he wasn't concerned about the scoreline but pleased with his young team's effort.
Facing the Cowboys in Townsville in round one of the new NRL season, he felt it was an ideal warm-up.
"Playing in that heat today gives us some preparation for what's ahead of us," Stuart said.
"We got everything out of it that we needed.
"It was purely about getting some timing and cohesion."
Storm coach Craig Bellamy had plenty of praise for individual performances but said his side, featuring five under-20s players, didn't play well as a team.
"We didn't really click as a team but it's always hard when you've got new guys," he said.
"I thought there was some good individual stuff there but there were some areas we certainly need to improve and our handling in the last quarter left a lot to be desired."
