Having shaken the monkey off their back, halfback Mitchell Pearce says the Sydney Roosters are confident they can now pull off the biggest scalp in the NRL.

The Roosters snapped a six-game losing streak with a 19-12 win over Cronulla on Saturday night, boosting their chances at avoiding the club's first wooden spoon since 1966.

They remain last on the NRL table, one win behind Cronulla, Wests Tigers and Canberra, and face table-topping St George Illawarra on Friday night at WIN Jubilee Oval.

"We're still on the bottom of the ladder but it's a big monkey off the back," said Pearce.

"We've been building for it the last month and we've been close in a few games but just haven't gotten over the line.

"(The Dragons) are the best team in the comp at the moment. It's probably a good time to get them. They're going pretty well and they've got to lose one sooner or later.

"We'll be confident, we'll give it a crack. We've got nothing to lose."

The most pleasing aspect from the Roosters' win was their defensive line speed that enabled them to completely dominate field position against Cronulla.

Pearce said they'll need to match the vaunted Dragons defence next week if they're any chance of upsetting the NRL pacesetters.

"Their defence has got them to the top of the ladder. If we defend like that we can stick with any team," he said.

"We have to tighten up a few things in attack and a couple of errors in penalties and we can give any team a crack."

While coach Brad Fittler said the wooden spoon had not been mentioned at the club, Pearce confirmed the unwanted prize was discussed prior to their victory over Cronulla and remains a motivator for the players.

"We had a little chat about it before the game about how we were both at the bottom of the ladder and it was a really big game," said Pearce.

"They're still a couple of points in front, but it was the win that we needed over the last month and we can only go forward now and hopefully get a few more wins."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP