Bernie Vince's hit on Eddie Betts on the weekend was yet another incident that thrust Melbourne into the spotlight for a negative reason.

It has been a season of promise and excitement for the young side, however, they have continually let themselves down in regards to their discipline and reputation.

It started early in the season for Simon Goodwin's men, with two off the ball incidents in their round two match-up against Carlton. Jordan Lewis fractured Patrick Cripps' jaw, earning himself a three week break, while Jesse Hogan was suspended two weeks for striking Sam Rowe.

In round nine Melbourne came out and targeted Shaun Higgins with what many believed to be over-the-top physicality. It culminated in Christian Salem missing a week for an elbow to the North Melbourne star. Bernie Vince was also seen head-hunting Ben Cunnington on centre wing.

We move along another month or so and Tom Bugg is thrown into the spotlight for his Instagram post directed at Jason Johannisen prior to the Dees' clash with the Western Bulldogs earlier this season.

Bugg's post, which also featured Jack Watts, was captioned, "You ready Jason Johannisen?"

The following week Clayton Oliver was accused of staging as he looked to hit the ground a little too easily from a Will Schofield knock. The AFL tribunal found the Eagle not guilty, all but suggesting that Oliver flopped.

Move onto round 15 and Tom Bugg delivers a punch off the ball to the face of Callum Mills. He was suspended for six weeks in an incident that was compared to Barry Hall's hit on Brent Staker.

A week after that, Clayton Oliver was seen aggressively interacting with a Carlton fan during the Demons' win over the Blues at the MCG. There is no place in the game for fans to abuse players, but even if what he claimed the supporter said was true, the youngster had to be smarter than that. Especially considering how much his side has been in the spotlight.

All of those incidents bring us to Vince's actions last week in which he took Betts out with an elbow.

Reviewing all of these it is impossible to suggest that the Demons don't have a problem with their discipline.

Key players continue to miss games, while their reputation is on the path to being left in tatters.

There is no doubting the quality of Melbourne's list and they should be successful in the foreseeable future. Finally their fans have something to cheer about, but they are continually left frustrated by what appears to be incredibly unnecessary actions.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 30: Callum Mills of the Swans and Tomas Bugg of the Demons clash during the 2017 AFL round 15 match between the Melbourne Demons and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on June 30, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images))

If this continues it will no doubt hurt their chances in September, especially considering their list has a number of injuries.

There is nothing wrong with strong physical football, but the Demons are edging closer to being labelled thugs. Something which they do not need to do to themselves considering just how talented they are.

It is unclear whether the coaching staff is encouraging their players to bring this specific type of energy, or whether they are bringing it themselves.

Either way something needs to change and if it does, it will go a long way to helping the Demons become a highly successful and feared team in the competition.