Sutton has been touted as the solution to the Blues' problems at five-eighth in a stunning opening to 2009, the result of Rabbitohs coach Jason Taylor switching the former back-rower to pivot.

''I think that he's good enough, there's no doubt about that,'' Taylor said yesterday as Souths arrived home after their 22-16 win over the Warriors.

''But that's out of John's control, he can't control what the selectors are going to do.''

NSW used Greg Bird, now with Super League club Les Catalans as he waits a court case over an alleged assault, and Braith Anasta in last year's Origin loss to Queensland.

Anasta, Cronulla's Trent Barrett and Canberra's Terry Campese have been mentioned as possible contenders in 2009, but Sutton has strongly put his case in Souths' three-from-four start.

Rabbitohs captain Roy Asotasi also backed the 24-year-old, whose partnership with halfback Chris Sandow has forced Craig Wing to jettison his return to the halves.

''He's a talented player, he's definitely got the X-factor and the skills and I've got no doubt he'd be able to handle State of Origin,'' Asotasi said at Sydney Airport.

The Rabbitohs went top of the NRL table on points differential with Sunday's win as the ladder took on an unfamiliar look most notably with premiers Manly on the bottom after four straight losses.

''It doesn't mean that much to be honest, it's just a number at the moment,'' Taylor said.

''We're only where we are on the table because some of the teams around us maybe didn't do so well on the weekend.

''We've been up there since the first game so this isn't all of a sudden something miraculous, we just had one win on the weekend.''

Asotasi said the 2007 feeling, which took Souths to its first finals in 18 years, was coming back.

''We're a lot more of a committed side this year,'' he said. AAP