Olam reveals reason for sideways play-the-ball

Melbourne Storm centre Justin Olam has revealed the story behind his hilarious brain fade on Thursday night.

During the first half of Melbourne's 26-18 win over the Bunnies, Olam got up to the play the ball facing the sideline, much to the chagrin of Craig Bellamy and the amusement of fans and commentators.

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But the incident came just after many fans thought he had knocked the ball on, and it turns out the Papua New Guinea international held the same opinion.

"I thought I lost the ball because I dropped it," Olam told Fox Sports.

"Everyone around me was so quiet, that's why I put my head down because I wasn't feeling good about myself. I turned the ball over because I thought it was a Rabbitohs ball in the heat of the game."

The Rabbitohs went on to score on the following set, but would ultimately come up short – and ultimately it was a relief to everyone that Olam's mistake was not the result of a concussion.

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"Everyone sort of thought that I got knocked out [in the tackle], but it's going to take more than that to knock me out," he said.

"Munster and them they were off me a little bit [for the drop]. It was a little bit embarrassing to be honest, I feel like I let the team down.

"If it was a common mistake I would have got over it and moved on, but we conceded a try the next set. [Craig Bellamy] didn't say anything to me yet but I'm pretty sure he'll say something on Monday. It's an honest play, I should've played to the whistle."

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