Forget Friday night's ugly win over North Queensland or next week's 'must-win' against Newcastle, it's the seven days in between that Parramatta halfback Brett Finch believes will make or break his side's stop-start NRL season.

Despite the ungainly fashion in which it was achieved, the Eels did what had to be done in walking away from Parramatta Stadium on Friday night with the two competition points courtesy of a 16-4 win over the Cowboys.

It kept them in the race for the finals, so much so that if results go their way over the weekend, they could finish it just one win outside the eight.

But whether they can keep pace over the remaining six rounds will be determined over the coming days, according to Finch.

"Whether we're just treading water and we're going to come up with a poor performance next week or we're really going to turn it around, we'll see over the next seven days how we jump into training and head up to Newcastle against a team that competes for the full 80 minutes," Finch said.

"It's an important two points.

"A win gives you confidence ... when your down on confidence in anything you do start doubting yourself and your team."

A try after just four minutes on Friday night had all the hallmarks of a blowout waiting to happen against a Cowboys side missing a swag of topline talent.

Instead it was followed by 76 minutes of insipid football, the frustration evident on the faces of the Eels players as they struggled to put the visitors away.

"It's (the frustration) probably been there with us for 20 rounds," Finch said.

"We've certainly expected a lot better of our performances for many weeks.

"I don't think attack's the problem for us, we've got enough talent there to score enough points.

"What's let us down is our defence. There's certainly been plenty of games this year where we've had to chase leads down and I thought tonight that was a real highlight for us."

The loss left Cowboys interim coach Ian Millward still searching for his first NRL win, his record now a dismal none from eight since taking over from the sacked Graham Murray.

It's been a tough slog for the former English Super League winner, who has had to work with a depleted roster which should get some help next week with the return of representative forward Luke O'Donnell from suspension.

"We had eight players out tonight, and every week we've had a lot of players out and the blokes have been putting in every week,"Millward said.

"Everyone just looks at the scoreboard and says we're struggling - we're struggling with personnel.

"We need in games like that to get a bit of an even break and I just thought a couple of those decisions were tough on us.

"The guys attitude has been fantastic and that's all you ask for from a coaching point of view."

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