They may be sitting in 13th place on the NRL ladder and smarting after a 29-0 hiding at the hands of St George Illawarra last Saturday, but Sydney Roosters are a better side than last year, according to hooker James Aubusson.

The 23-year-old said the Roosters have been left to rue crucial errors in all of their defeats this season and that's been the biggest difference from a year ago when they occupied a top-four spot on the ladder.

"I think we are a better side than we were last year, we are showing a lot more effort in different areas but the small stuff has let us down," he said.

"Against the Dragons we had three dropped balls and a play the ball .. you don't have those most weeks and that means you have 18 more tackles to make and the opposition have more chances to score.

"But most of their tries were from long distance, so you can take that as a positive or a negative I guess .. they never broke our line when they were down on our line and our on-line defence was good."

The former Melbourne Storm hooker has been one of the bright spots in a disappointing season for the Roosters and he said the players still feel they are one of the danger sides in the competition.

"As a playing group we are more than confident we have a better side than last year and playing just as well but we are just missing a couple of things," he said.

"I think when we get these things right, as we did against Canberra and Parramatta, we are a hard side to stop."

Aubusson was full of praise for the Dragons and expects Saturday's game with fellow strugglers Cronulla to be another tough assignment.

"Saturday was easily the hardest game of the season, the Dragons are the strongest team in the comp for defence and along with the Broncos are the best team we have played.

"To stop a team scoring at this level is unbelievable, but for us it is all about looking ahead and working on our stopping these mistakes."

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