A gallant Hisense Sharks side has taken reigning premier Melbourne to the brink in a tense battle that has seen the Storm prevail 14-10 at Toyota Park on Saturday night.

However the match will long be remembered for the courage of Sharks halfback Scott Porter.

Overcome by the tragic loss of his sister 24 hours earlier, Porter took the field with his Sharks team-mates determined to help steer the wooden-spoon favourites to an unlikely victory against the newly-crowned world champions.

After losing their final 10 premiership matches of the 2010 season, the Shire boys were keen to start the new season on a high, but a below-par Storm used every bit of their experience and class to edge out the most committed of opposition.

Australian Test star Greg Inglis scored the only try in the first-half to give the Storm a 6-4 half-time lead, before they seemingly had the game in the bag at 14-4 up with time ticking away in the second stanza.

But the gutsy Sharks, led strongly by skipper Trent Barrett and former leader Paul Gallen, edged back into the contest via a Luke Douglas try with 10 minutes remaining.

Unfortunately for the passionate and vocal 11,820 pro-Sharks crowd, several promising raids in the dying moments amounted to little as the experienced Storm held their nerve.

Points were at a premium in the first half, but when Barrett was banished to the sin-bin for 10 minutes for repeated ruck infringements, the star-studded Storm were presented with an ideal opportunity to strike.

They didn't disappoint their handful of fans in the crowd when on the very next set, a well-crafted second-man play to the left saw Inglis fight his way over for a try, but not before video referee Paul Simpkins examined several replays to rule on the grounding.

Skipper Cameron Smith's sideline conversion handed Melbourne a 6-2 lead.

It appeared that would remain the half-time score, but an Anthony Quinn forearm to the head of Gallen whilst in possession sparked a melee, resulting in the fiery Storm winger being placed on report and a Sharks penalty.

This gave Sharks half-back Scott Porter the opportunity to slot a sideline penalty goal and he was bang on target from the difficult angle to have his side trailing by two points at the break.

The Sharks continued to muscle up on their more fancied opponents upon resumption, but they couldn't repel the premiers in the 48th minute when a Dane Nielsen offload to full-back Billy Slater saw winger Luke MacDougall cross in the right corner.

Smith's second sideline conversion gave the visitors some much-needed breathing space at 12-4 up.

Gallen was unlucky to be penalised by Brett Suttor for holding down in the tackle, allowing Smith to extend the Storm's lead to 10 points courtesy of a simple 59th minute penalty goal.

The Sharks looked certain to post their first four-pointer of the season in the 67th minute when a superb cut-out Barrett pass sent Covell racing down the right touchline, but the Sharks winger chose to kick in-field rather than use his supports, thwarting a rare opportunity for points.

But the vocal locals didn't have to wait long for the genuine article when just three minutes later replacement hooker and Penrith recruit Paul Aiton brilliantly turned a charging Douglas inside for a close-range try.

Covell's conversion edged the Sharks closer at 10-14 down and that would remain the final score despite some tense final moments.

Melbourne Storm 14
Tries: Inglis, MacDougall
Conversions: Smith 2
Penalty goals: Smith

Cronulla Sharks 10
Tries: Douglas
Conversions: Covell
Penalty goals: Covell, Porter