PORT Adelaide will be sweating on the results of scans for two of its young stars but is optimistic Xavier Duursma has at least avoided a dreaded ACL injury.

The Power's bench resembled a casualty ward by the end of its thrilling two-point win over Richmond, with Zak Butters subbed out of the game with knee and ankle issues.

Connor Rozee and Tom Clurey both played through corkies and Orazio Fantasia rolled an ankle.

Both Duursma and Butters suffered their injuries in tackles, with the former landing awkwardly and the latter's leg getting caught under Shane Edwards as the Tiger dragged him to the ground.

"There was a bit going on out there in the carnage. There'll be a couple we need to assess, so I can't give you updates," Hinkley said.

"Without being too optimistic, we're positive [Duursma] might not be the worst case with a knee injury, and we all know what that is, an ACL. It doesn't mean it's not, but at this stage, there's some optimism around that, because they do some tests initially."

Despite the walking wounded, Hinkley said he did not want to "abuse" the medical sub, preferring to hold it for a concussion.

"I'll be honest, I don't want to abuse the medical sub. So, people who have corkies, that's part of the game," he said.

"It was easy to do it, but who knows, in a tough, physical game, it may have been one you couldn't put back out there, that you have to hang on to. 

"Clurey, Rozee, those blokes had really bad corkies, but you want to make sure you do the right thing by the game and you know it might come late, and it's for concussion most of the time, so we'll leave it like that if we can."

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Like Hinkley, an upbeat Damien Hardwick praised the recent record of thrillers between the two teams, and the Richmond coach was pleased with his team despite the narrow loss.

"I thought Port were terrific. They had their chances to bury us in the second quarter, but I thought our boys fought back really valiantly and had some chances to win, but just couldn't nail the ones when we needed to," Hardwick said.

"There were a couple of things. I thought there were a few undisciplined free kicks we gave away down the field, just a couple of poor turnovers we don't normally make when we're humming, but overall, I couldn't question our boys' intent and effort. 

"It was a terrific game of footy, I thought. Both sides played a pretty hard, tough brand after disappointing results last week."

After leaving the coaches' box after the final siren, Hardwick was caught on camera having a brief exchange with a Port Adelaide fan.

"He offered me a tissue, which I thought was a bit harsh," he said.

"We've won three out of the last four flags mate, I'm not sure whether I need a tissue."

The Tigers are now 2-2 after back-to-back losses.