ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon's hardline decision to drop key pair Nick Dal Santo and Stephen Milne was based upon "honouring" the values of the playing group and was not about "kicks and handballs".

Lyon last night indicated that Dal Santo and Milne had been omitted — and replaced by debutants for tonight's game against Fremantle — for failing to reach benchmarks in the areas where the players have chosen to be judged.

Lyon also said that the standards had been established by the players themselves and that the decision was about restoring "integrity" to selection.

Lyon's tough love for Dal Santo and Milne followed a warning to all players before the Sydney game.

The St Kilda players had pledged before the season to give 100% effort, 100% of the time — as midfielder Luke Ball revealed to The Age last week.

Lyon, who would not specify exactly where the duo had not measured up, has placed a strong emphasis on the less glamorous, team-oriented areas, including manning up, tackling and pressure.

"We'd lost some integrity in the selection process, and what we wanted to stand for had lost some credibility," said Lyon. "So strong integrity has been brought to the selection process and what we want to stand for and no one's immune, as of last week and going forward.

"We felt we'd compromised it a little bit — hence our inconsistency, but you know, we've gone forward."

The omission of Dal Santo after 114 straight games was clearly not about possession rates, as Lyon said, given that the highly skilled midfielder — who polled 16 Brownlow votes last year — had gained 17, 27 and 28 disposals respectively in his past three games, booting an aggregate of six goals in his past four games.

Dal Santo had only one tackle against the Swans, however, and was moved to the half-back line after half-time, as Lyon sought to enliven a losing midfield by putting Jason Gram, Brendon Goddard and Sam Fisher into the middle.

Dal Santo and Milne were told of their omissions on Wednesday night and, while obviously disappointed, Lyon said they had "a clear picture" of what was required. "And they've got good character, they'll fight their way back."

Lyon said "the message went out before the Sydney game" and the players were in no doubt what was required. "No one was under any illusions what they need to do to stay in the team. It's not about kicks and handballs.

"Frankly we've been inconsistent in living that. So in the lead-in to the Sydney game, with the leaders and the staff, we sort of drew the proverbial line in the sand where everyone was going to be judged on what we would judge ourselves on.

"So we reaffirmed what we wanted to stand for, and clearly it's not about just possessions and goals. So everyone was on notice that that's what you'd be judged on.

"I just facilitated the information that was put in front of me, at the SCG, and the byproduct of it is that Milne and Dal Santo have been dropped. So it's not a punishment, it's more about performance improvement. They get an opportunity to go back to Casey with all our support and all our guidance to work on areas they need to work on.

"They're internal things between the playing group and the coaches, what they want to stand for, and it's not about going on public record with those — we know, they know.

"The byproduct is we get to play three debutants in Ben McEvoy, an exciting young ruckman, Jarryd Allen — a second-year player, played really well in the NAB Cup — and Robert Eddy, who (has) speed/endurance, is an all-Australian under-18."

Asked if both players were dropped for the same reason, Lyon said: "Everyone in the playing list is being marked by the same standards or behaviours or values.

"There's about five things we want to stand for, and they've got a blend of different areas where they're strong and they want to improve.

"It's not about Dal and Milney, it's about any player."

Lyon said the opposition was irrelevant to the decision.