Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens isn't ready to declare another mid-season charge underway despite posting back-to-back wins for the first time in 2006 with a tight 24-14 NRL victory over a slumping North Queensland at Telstra Stadium on Sunday.

After opening up a commanding 18-4 lead with three tries in the opening 20 minutes of the battle between last year's grand finalists, the premiers held off a determined Cowboys fightback, only sealing the result in the dying stages with a runaway try to centre Dean Collis.

"We started the first half great and the second half poorly, but nevertheless they turned up and tackled when they had to," Sheens said.

"It gives us a lot of confidence in ourselves to beat a side in front of us (on the ladder).

The Tigers surged to last year's surprise premiership on the back of a winning charge that started about three weeks later than this.

But asked whether this was the start of something big for the reigning premiers - ninth on the ladder at the season halfway mark, two points behind five teams on 16 points - Sheens said more time was needed.

"It's the first back-to-back win, in six games time ask me that same question and I'll answer it," he said.

"It's a long way to go and we've got rep footy still. It's a good first step anyway but a long, long way from being where we were last year."

"All it does it keeps us in the mix, the good sides are still well in front of us...we've just got to concentrate on every week and not get too far ahead of ourselves."

For the Cowboys the loss was their third on the trot. After winning six straight to start the season, the Cowboys have now lost five of their last six matches, captain Travis Norton admitting the side was in the middle of a rough trot.

"I don't think we're playing that bad, the losses we've had a lot of them have been pretty close, it's been two and four points and we've been in it right up until the death in a lot of matches," Norton said.

"That'll be the key, to win those sort of games and...to get through this down period and hopefully come out the other end and pick up some wins."

The Tigers settled early with a try to winger Michael Crockett on the back of the opening set of the match.

The Cowboys replied through second rower Gavin Cooper, but two further tries to the home side in the space of two minutes gave the home side a handy advantage.

Anthony Laffranchi scored the first with a powerful run in which he beat three defenders to the line, while the second was all Benji Marshall, who danced his way into a gap in the Cowboys defence after it looked like Collis had butchered a try following a long run downfield.

The Cowboys made a game of it with a double of their own within the space of six minutes after the break, the second a spectacular effort engineered by cousins Matt and Brenton Bowen, the latter fielding a kick from the Queensland Origin fullback before brilliantly flicking it to teammate Paul Bowman who dived over for the try.

But the untimely sin-binning of new five-eighth Shane Muspratt, judged to have held on to too long to Jamaal Lolesi as the Tigers looked to counter attack, took the wind out of their sails, with a Hodgson penalty and Collis' late try sinking the visitors.

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