The South Sydney halfback Chris Sandow has underlined his sudden emergence as one of the NRL's most in-demand players, leading the Rabbitohs to a come from behind 31-12 victory over Cronulla at ANZ Stadium.
Sandow scored two crucial second half tries as Souths bounced back from an early 12-0 deficit, scoring 31 unanswered points in a five tries to two win.
The Rabbitohs No.7 is off-contract at the end of this season and reports suggest Parramatta have made a big play for him on the recommendation of supercoach Wayne Bennett.
Sandow has borne the brunt of much of the criticism of Souths' 3-5 season start, earning a reputation for sparking comebacks but being unable to get his side home.
But there was no such criticism on Friday night as he added five from five and a trademark field goal to his two four-pointers, prompting league great and Nine Network commentator Andrew Johns to laud him as Souths' best player this year.
James Roberts, Dave Taylor and Nathan Merritt also scored tries while, for Cronulla, Paul Aiton and Wade Graham bagged four-pointers and Matthew Wright booted two goals.
The win stems a three-match losing streak for Souths, whose hopes for the finals will have returned, while the Sharks are in freefall having now lost five straight.
