Sydney Roosters have suffered another major hit to their NRL premiership hopes as Melbourne’s crew of young guns staged a 26-4 ambush at the SCG.

The loss will hurt less than the growing casualty ward with Luke Keary, Mitch Aubusson (elbow) and Lachlan Lam (ankle) all taken from the field on Thursday night.

Test five-eighth Luke Keary was helped from the field in severe pain in the 63rd minute and was later taken to hospital by paramedics with what was first thought to be a rib injury.

However, concerns grew for a ruptured spleen given the location of the hit where he was whacked by Storm centre Brenko Lee.

Aubusson and Lam were both replaced in the first half and did not return, leaving coach Trent Robinson with just Poasa Faamausili on the bench for the final 20 minutes of the match.

It adds to an already swollen injury list that includes Boyd Cordner, Brett Morris, Victor Radley, Daniel Tupou, Angus Crichton and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

The Roosters struggled under the dominance of Melbourne who were steered around the park by Jahrome Hughes behind a ferocious pack.

Missing superstars Cameron Smith and Cameron Munster, the likes of Brandon Smith, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Justin Olam and Hughes delivered for Storm.

A remarkable 13 offloads gassed the Roosters through the middle as Melbourne forwards dominated field position and delivered second-phase play for their speedy backs.

The Roosters were set upon from the opening minute and it took just five for Hughes to cut through try-line defence to score.

A silky passing sequence between Olam and Papenhuyzen delivered the second try 20 minutes in to lead 14-0 at halftime.

An offload from prop Christian Welch gave Olam his second try in the 46th minute, while a line break from Smith put Felise Kaufusi under the posts just two minutes later.

The Roosters remained scoreless until the 64th minute when winger Christian Tuipulotu scored on debut, but the result was already over.

As if their NRL dominance wasn’t clear enough, the Storm have now had eight-game winning streaks in all of their past four seasons.

They are top of the NRL ladder, while the Roosters remain clinging to the top four.