"I knew you would ask that question," a relaxed Bennett replied. "Believe me, you don't need what happened here tonight, you just don't need that."

But with the Broncos sitting two points clear at the top of the premiership ladder after eight consecutive wins, many in the game have been waiting for Bennett's men to hit a mini-slump ahead of the finals.

It has happened to Bennett-coached premiership-winning teams at Brisbane in 1993, 2000 and 2006 and St George Illawarra in 2010, as well as his first year at the Dragons in 2009, when they won the minor premiership.

"The Broncos looked sluggish against Manly, and it looks like the crafty old coach is doing it again," veteran New Zealand commentator Allen McLaughlin told Radio Sport. "He knows he has got the points in the bag at the moment and is just going to pace his team to get ready for the play-offs. There was no sign of the traditional Broncos line-speed and they just couldn't cope with what Manly threw at them."

The theory is that Bennett likes to increase his team's fitness and endurance training before the finals and his players initially suffer heavy legs from the extra work load but reap the benefits in the finals.

According to statistics provided by Champion Data, the 2006 Broncos lost five of their last eight matches and the preliminary final against St George Illawarra before going on to beat Melbourne in the grand final, while the 2010 premiership winning Dragons lost three of their last seven matches of the regular season.

It was a similar story at Brisbane in 1993, with the Broncos losing two of their last four regular season games before going on to to win the club's second title by downing St George in the grand final, while the 2000 premiers lost 28-0 to the Roosters in the last premiership round before the play-offs.

Brisbane's record of just one loss in the final six premiership games isn 2000 is the best of any of Bennett's teams since the introduction of a 26 round competition in 1999, and he has coached in the finals every season except to 2012 and 2014 at Newcastle.

The Dragons mistimed their run in Bennett's first year at the club, with the 2009 minor premiers losing three of their last four matches of the regular season and then bowing out of the play-offs after back-to-back defeats.

Bennett gave a rare insight into his approach that season when he brushed off a 41-6 loss to South Sydney in round 25 by saying he when he could count on two hands the number of times Brisbane had been in a worse slump and recovered to be a finals force.

"There's been about 10 seasons, it's not unusual," Bennett said."Six of them we won the premiership and they all went through tougher periods than this."

The game's most winning coach is also on the record as saying he likes his teams to start the season well so they accumulate premiership points and can afford to drop games before the finals.

It is a formula that has proved successful over a long period of time, with Bennett having won eight premierships as a coach, including 1992,1993, 1997 (Super League), 1998, 2000 and 2006 at the Broncos and 2010 with St George Illawarra.

Brisbane forward Corey Parker admitted that Bennett wouldn't be too concerned about the loss but he insisted the manner of the defeat was disappointing

"I suppose from our point of view a loss is not the end of the world," Parker told Sky Sports Radio. "However, it is how you go about the loss and that was the most disappointing thing for us.

"From our point of view and our standards the other night, we didn't really give ourselves half a shot because we didn't turn up in the right mindset."

Bennett didn't offer any explanation on Saturday night for the Broncos loss but rejected suggestions they had under-estimated the Sea Eagles.

"I thought our start was as poor as I have seen us start," Bennett said. "I just think the guys didn't come here in the right frame of mind. We just didn't get into the game."