Defeat not an option for slipping Eels
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Eels half-back Brett Finch says Parramatta is not playing anywhere near good enough to take the lowly North Queensland lightly in their round 20 clash tonight.
The Cowboys are at the foot of the NRL ladder after losing 11 games in a row, but the Eels have lost their last three as their finals hopes begin to slip away.
Put simply, Finch says it is not a game Parramatta can afford to lose given they are now three points outside the top eight.
"I'd rather be playing them [Cowboys] than Melbourne or someone like that but every team's hard," he said.
"They're going through a tough situation like we are so one thing about them, they'll be desperate and they'll certainly have nothing to lose.
The Eels are clearly down on form after losses to Manly, South Sydney and Penrith despite still having one of the most rated line-ups in the NRL on paper.
Coach Michael Hagan says his players just need some self-belief if they are to improve and make the finals.
"You've also got to be confident in how you play and what you do, we think we've got enough players here to get the job done," he said.
"If we play to our ability hopefully we can turn our year around."
While the top eight is still in the Eels' sights, the year is long gone for the Cowboys.
Nevertheless, coach Ian Millward says his players want to make other clubs earn their spot in the top half.
"If you look at probably the last seven games we're going to play in, every team's in contention for the play-offs and they need a win against us to either be in the top four or make the play-offs," he said.
"So it gives us a great chance to one, build confidence, two beat some teams and make some statements.
"It's really important for the players for next season so that they need to finish with some confidence so they go into their pre-season with some wins."
Returning forward Carl Webb says there are still plenty of chances for his struggling team to finish the season on a high note.
Webb will rejoin the team after spending two games on the bench with a sprained ankle and says the Cowboys are keen to shake a consistent run of failures.
"A lot's been said in our team - it's ground-hog day we're going over and over the same sort of thing every week," he said.
"But everyone's confident just to finish on a positive, we've still got a lot of football to play, and there's still a lot up for grabs.
"But I think we want to start winning some games and it is coming into finals and we can spoil some other teams dreams of finals football."
