An AFL coaching box is a veritable pressure cooker, the advice, the messages, the flow of statistical information all coming at a million miles an hour.

And when a team is as close to victory as St Kilda was against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night, and the logistics go astray, it can push the buttons even of a coach as measured and unrelentingly positive as the Saints' Alan Richardson.

I'm fortunate enough to be inside the pressure cooker watching the St Kilda coaching panel go about its work. Tactically, things have gone pretty well. But failure to convert chances and untimely turnovers have been costly. And in the last few minutes of a low-scoring scrap, the Saints desperately need a goal.

Richardson has considered switching defender Sam Gilbert forward. He throws it up to his team of assistants, Adam Kingsley, Aaron Hamill, Rohan Welsh and director of coaching Danny Sexton.

But Gilbert is about to come off for a spell, comes the call. Richardson decides to speak to him on the bench, then make the move. Attention focuses elsewhere. But a couple of minutes later, with the ball in the back line, it's Gilbert who emerges with the pill in hand. He bravely takes on the Bulldog defence, but is nabbed for holding the ball.

What happened to the interchange? The message hasn't been relayed in time. Young Bulldog Lukas Webb goals after the resultant free kick to open up a crucial 19-point lead. Richardson isn't happy as he yells down the line to his lieutenant on the bench, a former Bulldog in Lindsay Gilbee.

"Thanks very bloody much. If you can't get him off the ground, just tell me." That is about it for explosions of anger, aside from a moment's annoyance earlier in the game when the competing voices make it hard for Richardson to be heard down the phone line to the bench.

"Hey, Gilbs [Gilbee], we've got to try to maximise Rooey [Nick Riewoldt] deeper," Richardson says, before addressing the rest of the box, still quite calmly: "Just remember when I'm on the phone to shut up so I can get the message through."

Ironic, really. Because this spirited effort from St Kilda, the response of the players to Richardson's voice and the cohesiveness of the coaching group are clear evidence that the bigger message is indeed getting through.

It's apparent in the observations Richardson makes during the run of play and from his phone messages to players when they come off the ground for a spell.

"That's what we're after, really good stuff. You're giving them [small forwards] a look at it just through your contest," he tells key forward Josh Bruce after he kicks St Kilda's first goal of the game.

"Just keep pushing yourself to get to the ball, that's great, your hunger's been really strong," he says to midfielder David Armitage. "Good hunting boys, terrific hunting," he says to no one in particular after some fierce defensive efforts.

The box runs smoothly. Kingsley is looking after the midfield, Welsh the defence, Hamill the forwards and Adam Skrobalak the ruck set-ups. There's an army of IT staff, led by Robbie Chancellor. Richardson is in the back row, alongside Sexton and sports science manager Simon Kearney, who monitors the interchanges and acts as a human alarm clock, yelling out the countdown at shorter intervals with five minutes remaining of each term.

It's a team effort, no one reluctant to throw in an idea, Richardson not shy to ask for one, Sexton occasionally gently reminding the line coaches to keep watching their specific areas, and at one stage cutting short an ongoing debate.

Early on, it becomes apparent this game will be nothing like the free-scoring earlier meeting between the teams, when St Kilda memorably hauled back a 55-point deficit. "They're certainly not looking to go quick inside, are they?" Richardson says of the Bulldogs. "This is more deliberate than I've seen them."

Closer to quarter-time, with the scores still just one goal apiece, something has to give. "We're right on top here, but we're not maximising it," says Richardson. "Are we leading early enough?" asks Kingsley. "Lead and engage, lead and engage," Hamill chips in.

"We've got to try to isolate 'Rooey' deep for the rest of the quarter," says the senior man. That idea will be thrown back and forth until well into the second quarter, when Sexton feels it's time to chip in. "I reckon we've flagged it enough," he says. 'Richo' will make his decision. Keep watching the game. We've been going on about it for ages. It's on the table."

All things considered, however, this is turning into a fine effort. With a minute or so left on the clock before quarter-time, as Richardson and the others prepare to make the journey out the back of the Etihad Stadium box, down the ramp and on to the arena, he encourages them, too.

"We haven't made the most of it. But let's not make it too negative. It's going to be a bloody arm wrestle, this." And so it proves.

Bulldog defender Easton Wood is proving a considerable thorn in St Kilda's side, repeatedly zoning off to take intercept marks. Richardson sends the runner out with a message. "Get out to 'Schneids' [Adam Schneider]. I want whoever has got Wood to make sure they're relevant. As soon as they're irrelevant, he's going to drop off."

"Do you want to try to get the two smalls deeper," Kingsley asks. "Why?" says Richardson. "I'm just trying to score. We've had 12 entries for two shots."

St Kilda are up by three points at half-time and start the third term well with another goal to Bruce in under 30 seconds. Richardson sends the message to bench man Gilbee to remind the players what happened in the last game against the Bulldogs, to remind them of their run.

But things turn sour as for the next 10 minutes, the Dogs dominate the clearances, an edge they capitalise on with the next four goals. The bleeding has to be stopped pronto. "We've looked like school kids at the last two bounces," says the coach.

He gets on the phone to midfield leader Jack Steven. "Hey Jack, we've been soft in there, so when you get on mate, really smack in, set the scene."

"He's a little champ isn't he?" the coach says as Jack Lonie executes exactly the pressure he's looking for. But the Bulldog goals keep coming, and veteran Leigh Montagna is dispensed briefly as a spare man in defence before the Saints again revert to a "six-six-six" formation.

At three-quarter time, after a late goal to Riewoldt, it's St Kilda down by 10 points and there's still hope. The substitution is made, Seb Ross on for Darren Minchington. He has immediate impact, but a goal to Bulldogs youngster Toby McLean makes things difficult, and the Gilbert moment and Webb's resultant goal give the Dogs a 21-point lead, the biggest margin all night.

Riewoldt pushes himself for one last effort, though, and after he kicks his second goal, it's back to 15 points with just under nine minutes left. Riewoldt always covers a heap of territory. Tonight, it might be even more than usual as he takes the ball at half-back, gives it off to the wing and sprints into the 50 to mark again. "Look at Riewoldt go," says Richardson admiringly. "He's a bloody freak!" The veteran's kick to the top of the goal square is marked by Bruce. He converts, and with six minutes left, it's only nine points the difference.

"For as long as we have left, he [Riewoldt] is the one who's got to make sure they have no extra defenders," the coach tells the bench.

A series of half-chances ensue. Unfortunately, they bring only behinds to Lonie, Armitage and Farren Ray. There's one last desperate gambit, Richardson removing key defender Luke Delaney, Bulldog big man Tom Boyd left to a small defender as the Saints desperately try to conjure one last opening.

It doesn't come, and the siren heralds defeat by six points. The frustration is palpable. "I'll tell you what," Richardson surmises. That was ours [to win]. What they got off the turnover ... we just kicked it to them."

He and his coaching group leave the box and head down to the rooms, disappointed, but not necessarily despairing. They know their team is still a work in progress. And while this battle may have been lost, perhaps they're also one step closer to winning the war.