The premiership winning coach has been the target of heavy criticism after another poor year by the Rabbitohs, but he gave Souths fans plenty to cheer about on Friday in overseeing a superb comeback win over rivals St George Illawarra at the SCG.

That was just the club's seventh win this season, but it bumped them up to 12th on the NRL ladder and helped strengthened Maguire's case that he still had the playing roster to challenge for a premiership next year.

Late tries to John Sutton and Bryson Goodwin preceded a clutch sideline conversion by halfback Adam Reynolds in what could prove to be a telling blow to the Dragons' finals chances.

It ended a four-match losing sequence for the Rabbitohs, prompting Crichton to launch a passionate defence of his coach.

"All the criticism that he's coming under, it's not really fair, I don't think," the 21-year-old said. "It's got to come to us as players. We've got the right playing group here, we've got the cattle, we've just got to make sure that we're stringing those games together and performing.

"At the end of the day us as a team need to perform and that's where the criticism should come. That doesn't come off Madge [Maguire], Madge can't control what we do, it's all up to us.

"People call him harsh, tough and there's a whole lot of comments made about Madge. He's been good. For me being a young kid trying to learn as much as I can, he's always there. His intensity's been good for me because I'm willing to learn."

South Sydney's roster is set to improve immeasurably in 2018 with a fit-again Greg Inglis likely to return and Queensland representative star Dane Gagai joining the club from Newcastle.

Maguire is in his sixth year as coach of South Sydney, and orchestrated the club's drought-breaking premiership in 2014, but has missed the finals for the past two seasons.

Crichton predicted much greener pastures in 2018.

"We've got a few good signings coming up next year, we've got a couple of really good young players that have really blossomed late this season and should really hit their straps next year and have a breakout season," Crichton said.

"There's a lot to look forward to for us as players and Souths fans out there. Building into the back end of this year is really important to us and giving our fans what they deserve because we've got the best fans in the comp so we've just got to look after them and look after us."

Crichton has been playing with a fractured foot for the past six weeks and injured his ankle in Friday's win, but he expects to be fit to play against Canterbury on Thursday night.

"I got another MRI on it [broken foot] last week – I haven't checked the results of it yet," Crichton said.

"I rolled my ankle out there tonight, so I'm in a bit of pain at the moment, but we've got some great physios and some great doctors at the club so I'll make sure that I get that all right for next week.

"I don't really want to give up my spot. Every week's my chance to prove my worth and show my skill set and make that position really mine.

"Getting through these tough times as a young player and hopefully getting them out of the way will make me appreciate winning a lot more."