Canterbury coach Des Hasler has thanked the throng of Bulldogs fans that packed Belmore Oval last night to see the blue and whites trample Melbourne 20-4.

“We tried to employ what Melbourne are good at in getting away to a good start and playing good field position helped a lot,” Hasler said.

“I’ve got to give a huge rap to the fans. They really got behind the team and it’s a reflection of all the hard work from Raelene [Castle – Bulldogs CEO] and the team behind the scenes.

“To see 16,000 or 17,000 turn up here tonight … it was a great atmosphere.”

Hasler’s counterpart Craig Bellamy was reasonably happy with his Storm team.

“I think we were overwhelmed in that first 15 minutes and then settled into it OK then,” Bellamy said.

“At the end it was pretty costly, but apart from that I thought it was reasonably even.”