North Queensland could be without star edge forward Jeremiah Nanai for several weeks after the 20-year-old suffered a shoulder injury in a 24-16 win over Parramatta that propelled the Cowboys into the NRL top eight.
Fullback Scott Drinkwater again starred and continued his purple patch of form in Townsville on Saturday night, moving to six tries and 11 try assists in his last six games.
The Cowboys punished an error-strewn Eels side that struggled until the final 15 minutes, when they turned on two quick tries and flirted with a miraculous comeback.
Mitchell Moses and Clint Gutherson combined twice in the final minutes to narrow the deficit to eight points, and a penalty with three minutes to go had the Eels poised.
But as had been the trend, errors let Brad Arthur's side down and the Cowboys held on.
They had to do so without Nanai, who walked off in the opening set of the second half clutching his shoulder before returning to the bench in a sling.
With Heilum Luki's return from a facial injury still a few weeks away, coach Todd Payten says he would have no issues starting young-gun Kulikefu Finefeuiaki in Nanai's place.
"He's a handful. He's getting his job done defensively. I have no hesitation about starting him," Payten said of the Finefeuiaki.
"We'll look at the makeup of the team but he's a capable kid."
In front of a 20,710 crowd that cried for revenge following last year's preliminary final loss to the Eels at home, the Cowboys ran in four tries to three and handed much-loved utility Jake Granville a win in his milestone 200th NRL game.
The win moves North Queensland to seventh on the NRL ladder, two points clear of the Eels and South Sydney.
Parramatta face a tough run home to round 27 and making matters worse, Shaun Lane departed the field in the second half with a dislocated elbow.
The Eels were already missing Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Maika Sivo and Dylan Brown to suspension.
"It's frustrating because some of the tries scored against us were simple system errors and blokes going to sleep for a three-to-five second window and that's what's costing us," said Eels coach Brad Arthur.
Arthur had no comment on a first-half sin bin that saw Valentine Holmes sent by referee Grant Atkins for a high shot on Moses that was judged to be head contact.
Moses didn't receive a HIA in the aftermath, which his counterpart Payten was displeased with.
"I thought was the wrong call,' Payten said.
"I thought it was good contact on the ball and whiplash made it look worse than what it was and it was great refereeing from Mitch."
The Cowboys began the game with tries to Peta Hiku and Semi Valemei before an error inside their own half allowed Sean Russell to dive over and lower the deficit to 12-4.
Valemei crossed for a second as the hosts took a 16-4 lead into the break before Parramatta's late push.
The win was the Cowboys' sixth straight in Townsville.
