Melbourne playmaker Cameron Munster is hoping the golden point loss to Manly shocks the competition frontrunners with the NRL finals looming.

The Storm fell 11-10 to the Sea Eagles, thanks to a Daly Cherry-Evans field goal with just seconds remaining in extra time.

It was Melbourne’s first loss since round eight and Munster hoped some positives would come from the pain.

“I have a bit of a theory about that – you need to lose a couple of games to pull you back a bit,” Munster said.

“It’s a learning curve and a wake up call for us.”

Both Munster and coach Craig Bellamy were disappointed in their sub-par start which led to them trailing 10-0 at halftime.

They were outmuscled by a physical Sea Eagles outfit, whose defence proved rock solid.

Munster said his team couldn’t afford to keep starting in such a manner.

“We came back in the second half but it’s frustrating as we can’t keep dishing that up in the first half and expect to come back,” he said.

“We did that last year in the back end of the year and finals time and we ended up getting pumped (in the grand final) so we can’t do that again if we end up getting another chance.”

Cherry-Evans’ field goal was the eighth attempt by both teams in a heart-stopping finale to the match.

Munster had an attempt that hit the upright, as did one by Manly’s Dylan Walker.

Munster said he was disappointed in his effort after striking them well in the warm-up and vowed to put more time into practice to ensure a better outcome next time.

“I hit three out of four pre-game and I was pretty confident I could going into the game then mine hit the post and I was pretty dirty,” he said.

“I’ll be practicing them more during the week.”

While Melbourne are still four points clear of the chasing pack, Munster said their premiership aspirations would be put to the test in the coming weeks.

They next face the Broncos in Brisbane before matches against second-placed South Sydney, Canberra (4th) and Manly (5th) among their remaining six games.

“We need to be better against the top-four sides and we will know where we are at in the next five weeks,” Munster said.

“We have Manly again, Brisbane Broncos, Canberra Raiders and South Sydney Rabbitohs – three of those four games should be top-four sides, it will show where we are at.”

Storm representative prop Christian Welch may miss the Broncos clash after failing a HIA during the Manly match.