Don’t utter the ‘F’ word in front of Parramatta coach Brad Arthur.

Finals that is.

With the blue and gold on the cusp of their first finals appearance in eight seasons, their long-suffering fans are daring to dream.

But not coach Arthur.

With his club in the midst of the longest finals drought of any club, he’s refusing to broach the subject.

“When we’ve got enough wins to ensure we’re in the finals, I’m happy to talk about it,” Arthur said.

“But at the moment we haven’t.”

Arthur has refused to talks finals with his charges, arguing the job to get there still has to be done.

There’s an underlying hunger among the Eels playing group to make the finals after having that opportunity taken off them last year due to the salary cap scandal.

The Eels will move to 30 points, and possibly into the top four, with victory over Canterbury at ANZ Stadium on Thursday night.

Against teams in the top eight, the Eels have won seven of 10 matches, feeding their self belief they can rattle some cages in September.

Although it should be noted two of those matches, against Melbourne and North Queensland, were affected by State of Origin.

Even without fullback Clint Gutherson, who is gone for the year with a knee injury, the Eels looked like contenders in their 28-14 win over Brisbane last week and Arthur says they must continue to prove their worth.

“Finals are the furthest thing from my mind at the moment because we’re not guaranteed a finals spot,” Arthur said.

“What’s really important is that we don’t let ourselves down after what we did last weekend.

“We’re coming up against a very committed Bulldogs team. They’re very good defensively and they’ll be tough and playing for their coach.”