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 hope for the finals will have returned, while the Sharks are in freefall having now lost five straight.

On a wet night, Souths had looked lethargic early as the Sharks sprang out of the blocks, but the Rabbitohs went to the break with the momentum, firing up for Roberts' try after the second of two controversial penalties in their own territory.

The Rabbitohs set the tone with a John Sutton 40-20 a minute after the break and captain Roy Asotasi was held up two minutes later.

Sutton then laid on a try for a rampaging Taylor in the 46th minute before Sandow intercepted a Graham pass 40m out, gave his signature one-armed salute and it was suddenly 18-12 to the home side in the 51st minute.

An individual effort from close to the line earned the halfback his second 10 minutes later before a 67th minute field goal had the home side 13 clear and the 9,263 fans on hand celebrating.

Compounding the misery for the Sharks, winger John Williams limped off in the 15th minute with ankle ligament damage and fullback Nathan Gardner hobbled through the match after an earlier than expected return from his own ankle problem.

Souths chief executive Shane Richardson said he was hopeful Sandow would stay after the club had thrown the 22-year-old a lifeline in 2008 when he was cut loose by Gold Coast.

"We're a good chance of re-signing him but you never know," Richardson said.

"We brought Chrissy into the club, the Gold Coast threw him out.

"The bottom line is he had problems and we've worked with him, he's been really great for the club ... we feel he's part of the family of the club.

"So it will be like losing a family member if he leaves but that happens in football and that's a decision he's got to make for his future."

Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan remains in the mid-season market for quality backs, with the club trying to snare Canterbury Kiwi international Ben Roberts.

"We've got the motor, we probably just haven't got all the flashy stuff around it at the moment and it hurt us in the second half," he said.

" ... We weren't classy enough to take our opportunities."

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