The match had already been the subject of venue and time changes due to expected hostile weather.
It was originally meant to be played in Darwin on Saturday night, before monsoonal rain made that location unsuitable, forcing the move to Alice Springs.
The threat of the remnants of Cyclone Yasi causing 100km/h winds and heavy rain in Alice Springs prompted the AFL on Thursday to reschedule it for an earlier timeslot than initially planned to try to dodge the worst of the weather.
But on Friday morning, it was decided to scrap the game altogether, with Richmond football general manager Craig Cameron saying the AFL had received updated weather warnings.
He said the Tigers were at the airport ready to fly out when the news came through.
"We were sort of milling around ready to board the plane and the phone calls started that the weather forecast the AFL had received yesterday and the assurances they had received may have changed a little bit," Cameron told Melbourne's SEN radio.
"I think the match manager Scott Taylor contacted some of the guys at the AFL and (AFL football operations manager) Adrian Anderson ended up making what is a pretty good call, I think, that the game shouldn't go ahead."
Cameron said there had been some previous discussion about a move to a third venue, possibly Sydney, but it was too late to organise that once the decision not to play in Alice Springs was made.
"We did have conversations yesterday with the AFL and they sought assurances from the SES (State Emergency Service) up in the Territory and also some government bodies about the weather and they received assurances from them," he said.
"But it appears that the weather conditions have changed overnight and I think they probably just left it too short a time to switch it to another venue, I know they were probably looking at Sydney a couple of days ago."
He said it would not have too much impact on the club's preparation for the season, but would be a blow to the many players who had limited or no AFL experience in the squad Richmond was fielding.
"It was a good opportunity for them to get on a plane and travel and play," Cameron said.
"(Coach Damien Hardwick) has thrown down the challenge to some of them to put their hand up for round one, so it was a minor setback from that respect, but not in terms of the conditioning."
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