National recruiting manager Matthew Clarke said the club had no qualms about bidding on Academy players.
"Why not? That's what we're paid to do," Clarke said.
"We never sit at the start of the night planning to bid on a player, we have a ranking and if they come up at our picks and they're still available, we're paid to pick the best players for the Richmond footy club.
"If they're our picks, we bid, and if it's matched, we go to the next one on the board. It's pretty clear-cut for us."
Clarke did admit he didn't expect all three bid selections to pass through unmatched.
"Maybe we rated them a bit higher than the others, that's fine."
https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-11-28/two-cubs-poached-from-lions-den-biggy-becomes-a-tiggy