Stars of Sydney Roosters' 2002 premiership-winning side say this year's team is better The Sydney Roosters celebrate their grand final win in 2002. THEY won an NRL title and revolutionised the art of defence  but the 2002 Sydney Roosters say theyre no match for the current mob. Exactly 11 years after they won a premiership with that famed rushing defence, Bondi Junction greats Luke Ricketson and Bryan Fletcher both insist the 2013 minor premiers are not only a superior side to theirs, but boast a better defence. The theory is supported by Fox Sports Statistics, revealing the 2013 side not only concede fewer tries and points per game than the last premiership side, but have kept as many teams to zero this year, six, as the previous 11 seasons combined. Does this team defend better than we did? Yeah, they do - defend a lot better,"" Fletcher says. I think right across the park, when you size up the individuals, they're a better side than we were too. I'm not sure their attack is as good as some other teams in the NRL but you saw against Manly how their defence got them through. And as the old cliche says, it's defence that wins you premierships. Back in 2002, our strength was line speed and numbers in tackles. Wrestling wasn't in at that stage but we had a call - "Red" - which was basically three men into a tackle. The idea was that if you were standing around, jump in and slow the play the ball down. Initially, clubs were saying we were offside or that we must've been cheating. But because we were slowing the ruck down it was enabling us to get onside. Defence won us a premiership and I think it will win these boys a competition too. Ricketson added: "a fair rap when you consider, 11 years ago, no less than Brad Fittler led a team of internationals including himself, Fletcher, Brett Mullins, Adrian Morley, Craig Wing, Justin Hodges and current skipper Anthony Minichiello. "The game has changed so much but these current guys are fitter, more mobile, last longer,"" Ricketson says. On paper, this current Roosters side is a better side than we were.