The South Sydney Rabbitohs have, at full strength, one of the NRL's most dangerous left edges.
It starts from the middle of the course, with the game's best lock forward, Cameron Murray, rolling forward with the best play-the-ball speed anywhere in the competition.
They then shuffle left through Cody Walker, David Fifita, Latrell Mitchell and the game's greatest ever try-scorer Alex Johnston.
It's a no-brainer that they attack that way more often than they don't, and also not hard to understand why it has been a nightmare for opposition defences even on their worst days.
Mitchell being out of action on Thursday night certainly didn't help the Rabbitohs cause, but the longer the game went, the stranger South Sydney's attacking plan became.
Whether it was Bennett's coaching or the on-field decision-making of Cody Walker and Ashton Ward, the club went right over and over again.
That's not to say they don't score points on the right-hand side, but it's certainly not the threatening side when you run the rule across South Sydney's team sheet.
Maybe the equation to go right over and over again gets even more confusing when you consider Jack Wighton is currently also out with a broken arm.
But it's as if Bennett was prepared for it.
David Fifita was shuffled to the right-hand side, Tallis Duncan, who is also excellent, to the left, and the Rabbitohs peppered one side of the park all evening.
The major factor there, of course, is that Fifita has proven time and time again over the years that he is better on the left edge than the right at both ends of the park.
If you listen to some reports, him not being picked on the left was a big part of the reason he ultimately wanted out of the Gold Coast Titans.
Fifita, despite all the ball going that way during the game, had just three second-half runs, if you needed any more proof.
Alex Johnston was essentially reduced to a passenger at times throughout the game while the Rabbitohs tried to set Edward Kosi up without a whole lot of success.
That the Rabbitohs started fast with an early try to Keaon Koloamatangi, then had ten minutes against 12, but decided to kick a penalty goal was also eyebrow-raising.
They spent a lot of time in defence during the early minutes, granted, but the penalty goal felt like a negative play, and things didn't get much more positive from there for South Sydney.
Manly then stripped them for numbers despite having a man in the sin bin, with Jason Saab scoring in the 22nd minute to kick off the home side's account.
The Sea Eagles, with momentum, put on four straight tries on either side of halftime, with errors becoming a regular part of the Rabbitohs' game as a disjointed attack went away from what has worked time and time again.
It was clear, watching from a neutral point of view, that the absence of Mitchell has been a big one at both ends of the park in recent weeks, but they almost seemed tentative on Thursday evening, unable to commit to attacking the left-hand side without their representative calibre centre, despite him being replaced by Latrell Siegwalt, who looks every bit the NRL player.
It's not as if the Rabbitohs haven't attacked the left-hand side without Mitchell in recent weeks, but the timing to start going down the right, coinciding with Fifita's return, just didn't make sense.
Refereeing decisions could certainly be debated out of the second half, and indeed, they may have changed the game or the momentum of it, but the Rabbitohs didn't play a good game on Thursday night, either in their tactics or their execution.
Wayne Bennett has the runs on the board, and he hasn't got there by not trying things, but there is no doubt he needs his best attacking weapon back on the park if the Rabbitohs are going to go anywhere this season.
He also needs to understand that Fifita is not someone who needs an experiment.
He is damaging on the left, and makes a difference to his football side.
Yes, South Sydney still needs other bits and bobs of their game to go right, including Cody Walker's form and him having a clear run from injury, but right now, Bennett's side needs to do the basics right.
Shuffling away from what has worked for them for years isn't going to be it.
Even with the loss, they still sit in the top eight, although they could be out of it by the end of the weekend, and given they have already had two byes, the ladder is somewhat a misrepresentation of the actual competition right now, particularly given the Cowboys, equal with them on points, haven't had one yet.
The Rabbitohs have the Broncos next week - a must-win clash, really - before their third bye, and then it's on to 11 games straight on the run to the finals.
That is tricky in anyone's book, and Bennett will need to manage his side, particularly the injury-prone parts of it.
Signing up for extra defence by not using your biggest weapon won't be part of the plan, particularly when, injuries and referee decisions or not, they have now lost three games on the bounce, conceding 90 points in that time.
