Key midfielder Hamish Hartlett is struggling to cope with taggers, while game-breaking forward John Butcher hasn't played a match this season as he battles to live up to his nickname of 'The Future'.
Hartlett has been suffocated by taggers in his past two matches, managing just seven and 10 disposals respectively, and is currently sitting 77th in the Official AFL Player Ratings.
Hinkley says the blue-chip midfielder is being taught an invaluable lesson, but must work harder to pass the tagging test.
"Hamish himself has to step up," Hinkley told reporters on Thursday.
"Hamish is getting some experience on what it takes to be an elite player in the midfield. He has just got to step up himself a little bit."
Butcher hasn't played an AFL match since having hip surgery in the middle of last year.
More post-season surgery robbed the 21-year-old of a meaningful pre-season and his lack of form in second-tier SANFL ranks was concerning Hinkley.
"We would love Butch to be in some really good touch.
"Physically, he's okay - he's ready to play football. He just needs to have a solid game of SANFL football where he has got some confidence."
Of more immediate concern for Hinkley is that the team stops cheating itself and returns to the defensive style of football that won the opening five games of the season.
A heavy focus on defence worked a charm at the start of the season but the players have moved away from Hinkley's plan in recent weeks, with consecutive losses the result.
He said they allowed the Tigers far too much uncontested possession last weekend, illustrated by the lopsided 148-75 mark count.
"We didn't stay true to ourselves," Hinkley said of the performance.
"We just didn't defend as hard as we needed to, we allowed Richmond clearly too much uncontested ball and clearly they made us pay a price.
"Our best method is when we're defending really hard we'll give ourselves the best chance to win.
"The game as a whole - we were just put under the microscope a bit more and we didn't handle it too well."
The anticipated return of ball-winning midfielder Dom Cassisi for Sunday's clash against Carlton should help the side's defensive cause.
The 30-year-old was a late withdrawal from last weekend's loss to Richmond because of a tight hamstring, but after the former captain trained without issue this week Hinkley named him a likely starter.
Expected to make way for Cassisi is youngster Sam Colquhoun after making a solid debut against the Tigers last weekend.
Despite collecting 17 touches in his first game, Hinkley admitted the 18-year-old's slight 179cm, 72kg frame struggled with the rigours of AFL football.
Harry Thring for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
