Justin Olam's Hilarious Brain Fade During 2021 NRL Season Opener

Justin Olam, what were you thinking mate?!

The Melbourne Storm sent a message to the rest of the NRL after coming out on top against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the season opener, but Olam arguably had the biggest moment of the game.

Well, sort of.

With his side leading by 24-12 midway through the second half, the Storm centre made a rather hilarious error that ended up costing his team a try.

You can probably imagine Bellyache was going nuts in the coach's box, but for us neutrals the blunder was rather amusing.

On the 54th minute mark, Premiership-winner Olam received a pass from Cameron Munster just ahead of the 30-metre line.

But with the Bunnies defenders breathing down his neck, Olam took his eye off the ball for a split second and coughed it up.

Juggling it between his hands, the 27-year-old ended up recovering possession by diving on the loose ball.

The referee had called a knock back, meaning play resumed.

But Olam clearly didn't hear the call and one can only assume he thought it was a knock on.

With this in mind, he simply got back to his feet and rolled the ball in completely the wrong direction while facing the opposite way of the attack.

Looking back at the replays, it honestly looks like one of the laziest play the balls of all-time.

"Where's he going? He's played it towards Richmond," Fox League commentator Andrew Voss said.

"Poor old Justin Olam, it's a disappointing moment. They've thrown their arms up in the village of Fiji and said 'No Justin!

"Oh no, we're 60 minutes into the first game of the season and that could be the most embarrassing moment we have in 2021."

Olam's Storm teammates Munster and Josh Addo-Carr looked over at their colleague as if to say "what on earth are you doing?"

At the time, everyone inside AAMI Park had a bit of a chuckle about the incident, but their laughing soon turned to anger when South Sydney made the Storm pay for their error.

From the resulting penalty, Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell burst through the defence and scored down the left hand side.

Reigning champions the Storm ended up having the last laugh though thanks to a resounding 26-18 victory on home soil.

As for Olam, he'll probably see the funny side of things when he rewatches the game during the team's video session today.

The same can't be said for Craig Bellamy.