Port Adelaide may have to "wait and see" if young star Jason Horne-Francis will be fit to face Sydney in next Friday's preliminary final after the former Pick 1 selection was seen hampered on multiple occasions during the semi-final win over Hawthorn.
Horne-Francis, who played a key role in the three-point victory to keep the Power's premiership pursuit alive, dealt with a suspected quad issue at the final break before a cramp in his hamstring saw him assisted from the field in the dying stages.
While Horne-Francis was seemingly able to shake off the earlier concern, the club is set to assess any potential issue in the wake of the win as they prepare to meet with the minor premiers seven days later.
Questioned on the quad concern, Hinkley said his young bull should be OK but will be checked on in the coming days.
"I don't think (it's a concern)," Hinkley said.
"I think 'Jase' was more around fatigue than anything else. He snapped a goal in the last quarter, so if he found any issues he probably wouldn't have been able to do that.
"I think he'll be OK, but I'll wait and see like we do with every game."
On the hamstring cramp, Hinkley was quick to play down any suggestion of something more serious.
"It was a pretty good [cramp], just a cramp," he added.
"He had run himself into the ground a bit. You use some extra energy when you play in a final. You've got to be mindful of that in your preparation."
The Power had hoped to have gotten through the thrilling home final win unscathed, only for key forward Todd Marshall to enter concussion protocols despite passing a test and only being subbed out of the game at three-quarter time conservatively.
His absence for the preliminary final could see veteran Charlie Dixon come back into the side after being a late out with illness.
Dixon had missed his side's Round 24 match against Fremantle with illness, which had returned in the lead-up to this week's must-win affair.
Hinkley said the club hopes their senior attacker will be fit and firing next week but could not guarantee a return for Dixon, who recorded one effective disposal in the 84-point qualifying final loss to Geelong.
"He just wasn't physically well enough. He was ill. He just couldn't get through the game," Hinkley explained.
"We pulled him out of the (the Fremantle game) because he was sick. He recovered, he was okay but they can come back and get you again.
"We're hopeful that he'll be more than OK next week. He trained through the week, as he got through the week he got worse."
With the Power's campaign alive for another week, the door has become ajar for Kane Farrell to potentially return from a hamstring injury that initially put a line through a potential return this year.
Farrell suffered a strain in the win over Fremantle that saw his season put to an end, however the defender has continued to build up his workloads at training over the past week.
Questioned if Farrell could even face the Swans, Hinkley couldn't give a categoric answer but said the club would avoid any large risks.
"Maybe yes, but we just can't take an unnecessary risk at that stage," the Power coach responded.
"He's running pretty well, but all that information will come out through the week."
Port Adelaide will head to the SCG next Friday night to face the Swans, seeing them one win away from a maiden grand final berth under Hinkley.
