David Armitage 1.0 didn't make St Kilda's grand final teams of 2009 and 2010, when the former top 10 draft pick was in his third and fourth season of league football. Armitage 1.0 was as tough as Clint Eastwood and could win the ball, but didn't - or couldn't - do the requisite running.

Armitage 1.0 improved steadily over time, to the point that by last season he was a core member of the St Kilda midfield. In a season marred by an infected knee that required two operations, the Queenslander averaged 22 disposals. But he was no Lenny Hayes and was clearly behind speedy Jack Steven in the midfield order of merit. He was a reliable B grader.

Over summer, Armitage had a reboot. He had a conversation with his coach, Alan Richardson, who encouraged him to lose some weight to improve his running and outside game. The coach likened him to Hawthorn's vice captain Jordan Lewis, a midfielder with similar hard nut attributes, who had grafted an elite outside game on to his rugged interior, thereby increasing his possession rate.

Richardson told and sold Armitage a story, which the player embraced. He would be given more responsibility, too, because St Lenny was retired. The Saints needed him to fill a leadership void.

Armitage 2.0 took the field in 2015 leaner, able to run further and more assertive. He has transformed himself into an A grade midfielder and become the Saints' premier player. He ranks second in the competition for average disposals (32.8), fittingly behind the player he aspired to emulate, Lewis.

Every Thursday, after the Saints have trained and picked their team at match committee, Richardson sits down, face to face, with each of the 45 players on the St Kilda senior and rookie lists. The coach and player have a two-way conversation about how the player is faring. On occasion, "Richo" will tell the player why he's overlooked for selection, or ask the player where he might improve.

Richardson, from what club insiders suggest, has a natural empathy with those who didn't make the side, because he was a battler who toiled hard for his 100 games at Collingwood. The coach also has an acute understanding of disappointment - having missed a premiership when his coach, Leigh Matthews, subjected him to a brutal test (an unexpected tackle/collision from Lethal) that Richardson's cracked collarbone, unsurprisingly, couldn't withstand.

Armitage turns 27 later this month. Typically, players graduate to A graders much earlier in their careers. His ascension is one of the most surprising individual plotlines of the season.

Richardson didn't "make" Armitage into this rebooted version of himself; only the player can reinvent himself. What a coach can do, however, is give the player the opportunity to become his best self.

It is always difficult to measure the impact of a coach, since his coaching is so heavily influenced by the capabilities of the cattle. Externally, it is hard for us to judge coaches on anything besides the scoreboard - with seasonal adjustment for injuries.

That said, there are three key performance indicators that one can apply to any coach, regardless of his cattle. Number one is whether his team plays with a competitive spirit. Young teams can't do it as often as the Swans or Hawks, but they can do it often enough to show underlying resolve.

The second measure is whether there is a game style, or team traits, that work for the group and which the coach has drilled and instilled. Ross Lyon coached sides are unmatched on this KPI.

The third gauge is whether have individuals improved and developed on the coach's watch. Of the three measures, this is the easiest to read from afar.

In St Kilda's case, Richardson deserves a tick for what smells like team spirit  - the Saints have twice come from well behind (In Brisbane last week and from a 55 point deficit v the Bulldogs) to win games in which they were underdogs. They have twice been disappointing - in their defeat by the bad news Blues and a thrashing by Collingwood. Otherwise, the competitive ethos has been consistent. Against Adelaide, the Saints maintained a sustained effort, their attitude personifed by Riewoldt and little Jack Lonie, both of whom didn't flinch and were cleaned up. They were unlucky to be pipped by Essendon.

Richardson's clearest win, though, has been on the individual improvement index. If Armitage is emblematic of a club's progress, Josh Bruce would be Exhibit B. Relocated to the forward line late last season, Bruce, who played forward in juniors, is on track for 50-60 goals and has been more than mere foil for Nick Riewoldt.

Billy Longer is another player who has responded to the coach's exhortations. In the post-season, the ex-Lion was given a bake by Richardson, who must have seen a laconic talent drifting down the river. Consequently, the sluggish, puffing Billy is no Longer. In his place there's a more aggressive player, who has arguably supplanted Tom Hickey as the club's first ruck.

St Kilda's game style, like the team, is developing and embryonic, rather than fully-formed. The (post round 9) numbers suggest that defensive intent is strong - the Saints rank first for pressuring the opposition, first for conceding (the least) uncontested marks and fourth for tackles. But intent has not always brought results, since they are 15th on the points-against table.

They are trying to be more aggressive with ball movement and speed it up, in the knowledge that this will bring turnovers. Scoring (11th after nine games) is improving, as it must.

Richardson has taken direct responsibility for team defence, a portfolio he decided to take over when Luke Beveridge quit as director of coaching (before he had really started) to become top Dog at Whitten Oval. Club insiders cite the coach's communication with players and staff as his strength, and there's a view that  Richardson benefited enormously from his brief stay at Port Adelaide, where, as senior assistant under Ken Hinkley, he had the chance to escape from the confines of meat and potatoes "line coaching".

Hinkley, Phil Walsh and Richardson are at the vanguard of a new species of senior coach - the heavily road-tested, almost "over ripe" long-serving ex-assistant coach who was seen to have missed the boat. It is prototype that will surely be under consideration at Carlton.

Whether they're ex-champions, dirty back pockets or perennial assistants like Hinkley and Walsh, the coach is judged according to a mix of results and expectations.

Punters and punditry alike forecast another wooden spoon for the Saints this year. There were even silly suggestions they would not win a game. Richardson's Saints have confounded those dire projections.

They remain some years from contention, and there's no guarantee that they will get back to where they were, geographically and on the ladder, five years ago. The challenges facing this club - to complete a Total Rebuild, return to Moorabbin and become prosperous - are immense.

But on form displayed in 2015, coaching isn't an issue. Judged on team spirit and the Armitage-Longer index, Richardson is fulfilling his side of the bargain.