Justin Olam reveals the 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.

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.

"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."