Melbourne star Will Chambers could face some heat from the NRL match review committee after throwing a punch at Sam Kasiano from behind in a fiery round-one win over Canterbury.
Both players were sin-binned for letting fly late in Friday evening's first half at Belmore Sportsground, however replays showed Chambers came from a distance to hit an unsuspecting Kasiano.
But in what might be a bigger blow for last year's grand finalists, Storm prop Jesse Bromwich is suspected of having dislocated his thumb during a 12-6 victory.
The Chambers-Kasiano incident began when the Bulldogs' prop held onto the jersey of Cooper Cronk, which turned into a minor scuffle before Chambers joined in.
Kasiano was also seen to throw them back at the Storm centre in retaliation.
"It's brave taking on big Kasiano. It might not be very smart. It was good to see other guys backed him up, (but) I'm not quite sure what happened," Storm coach Craig Bellamy said.
"I imagine it's going to be looked at pretty closely."
Bulldogs coach Des Hasler said Belmore matches were always intense.
"I haven't really looked at the tape yet. Looks like there might've been some punches thrown. We'll have to have a look at it and we'll take it from there," he said.
The fight sparked a spiteful game in driving rain that included Storm fullback Cameron Munster likely to become the first player fined after being put on report for tripping.
It marred a thrilling contest that wasn't decided until the final siren, with the torrential conditions in the second half preventing either side changing the 12-6 halftime score.
Tries in the opening six minutes to Cheyse Blair and Suliasi Vunivalu left the Bulldogs' faithful stunned, and it would've been three if Munster had held onto a Ryley Jacks kick.
However, the injury to Bromwich and a concussion test for Dale Finucane, combined with the introduction of Kasiano off the bench, quickly swung momentum the Bulldogs' way.
But despite dominating possession, a 29th-minute try to Josh Reynolds off a Brenko Lee break was all the points the Bulldogs had to show before halftime.
With a 30-17 advantage in tackles inside the opposition quarter, Canterbury will be left to rue a number of missed opportunities to score points in good ball position.
"They got the jump on us and then the rain was timed perfectly for them. But I thought we showed plenty to get back into the game at 12-6," Hasler said.
"I thought in the second half, there were three genuine tryscoring opportunities that we put down. But that's what you have to do - you have to execute in that moment."
The fixture was also the first in the controversial 6pm Friday night timeslot, with a crowd of 8712 braving the torrid conditions.
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