So St Kilda coach Ross Lyon would like the rest of the competition to refrain from sledging his players over the nude, lewd photograph controversy that has engulfed captain Nick Riewoldt and midfielder Nick dal Santo.

In yesterday's Sunday Age, Lyon warned opposition players they might be cited under the AFL's vilification rules if they sledged his men over the pictures, which show Riewoldt naked and Dal Santo in a more suggestive pose.

''Just because you are on the football field, you don't leave behind community standards,'' he said. ''So if people are consistently crossing those (standards) and it becomes an issue, that is something the AFL consistently deals with - any form of vilification.''

This is a surprising call from Lyon, normally the most circumspect of coaches. For not only does it keep the issue alive and burning, it focusses attention on St Kilda's behaviour and general on-field deportment. 

And in that regard, it leaves the Saints open to accusations of hypocrisy.

For less than three years ago, Riewoldt himself - AFL golden boy and player of hitherto unimpeachable reputation - was revealed to have sledged an opponent, Essendon's Andrew Lovett, over an off-field incident.

In a Friday night game at Telstra Dome early in 2008, Riewoldt told Lovett: "You bash your f...... missus".

The comment - picked up by a microphone worn by one of the umpires and broadcast by the Seven Network - was a reference to a charge Lovett faced over domestic violence, and for which he was later fined $500 in the Melbourne Magistrate's Court charge after being found guilty of breaking an intervention order taken out by his ex-girlfriend. 

After the sledge was aired by Seven, Lyon was asked whether he condoned it.

The coach declared sledging a non-issue and said he had no plans to discuss the issue with Riewoldt. Lyon said he was not prepared to make a moral judgment because he didn't know what had precipitated the comment, although he believed the Saints did not overstep the line.

"As a team we have a philosophy that we treat our opponents with respect regardless of the scoreboard," he said. "But in the heat of the moment, unless you know what's been said and what's been given, both physically and verbally, it's hard to make moral judgements until you've walked in that person's shoes."

That statement sits a little uneasily alongside the one he made yesterday. On one hand, Lyon is saying we shouldn't be too judgmental about 'heat of the moment' sledging, that some of it is justifiable. On the other, he's asking that his players - especially Riewoldt, dal Santo, Zac Dawson and 'the photographer' Sam Gilbert - get blanket protection from the AFL if they cop a verbal barrage from opponents in 2011.  

You can't have it both ways, Roscoe. What is good for the goose - in this case, an apt description for Gilbert - is surely good for the gander.

Why did you not feel compelled to make a strong statement condemning Riewoldt's behaviour three years ago? And, having not done that, how can you now call on the rest of the competition to button their lip when they're playing the Saints? 

As if losing a Grand Final replay - to Collingwood of all teams - wasn't hard enough to take, the release of the photos capped a truly miserable end to 2010 for the Saints. And, on the evidence so far, a forgettable start to 2011.