{"id":388908,"date":"2026-01-03T11:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T11:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/388908\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T11:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T11:47:13","slug":"extremely-sad-ex-afl-player-dead-at-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/388908\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Extremely sad\u2019: Ex-AFL player dead at 23"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains images of deceased persons.<\/p>\n

Tributes are flowing for \u201cbeautiful\u201d and \u201cstrong\u201d former North Melbourne player Phoenix Spicer, who has died at the age of 23.<\/p>\n

The sister of Spicer\u2019s partner, Ky-ya Nicholson Ward, confirmed his death on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are devastated to share that last night we tragically lost our brother Phoenix Spicer. A beautiful, loyal and strong Nunggubuyu man,\u201d Dharna Nicholson-Bux said in the post.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhoenix will forever be our beloved brother, uncle, son, a partner to Ky-ya and a second dad to Jordy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hearts are broken with your sudden loss, you are watching over us in the Dreaming now my brother we will miss you!<\/p>\n

\u201cForever 23.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former North Melbourne AFL player Phoenix Spicer mourned after death at age of 23. Picture: Facebook<\/p>\n

The North Melbourne Football Club paid tribute to the ex-AFL player, describing him as a \u201cpopular\u201d and \u201cwell-liked\u201d player.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Club extends its deepest condolences to Spicer\u2019s friends, family and loved ones at this difficult time and ask that their privacy be respected,\u201d a team statement read.<\/p>\n

A proud Nunggubuyu man, Spicer hailed from Numbulwar \u2013 a remote community in East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.<\/p>\n

His totem was a barramundi fish.<\/p>\n

\"AFL<\/p>\n

The ex-AFL player played 12 games for the Kangaroos. Photo by Michael Willson\/AFL Photos<\/p>\n

He was selected to play with North Melbourne from South Australia in the 2020 national draft, and played 12 games for the Kangaroos.<\/p>\n

His final game took place in round 14 of the 2023 season.<\/p>\n

Spicer also played a role assisting Emma Bamblett with the design of the team\u2019s 2023 Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey, which featured each of the team\u2019s First Nations players\u2019 totems.<\/p>\n

He played 18 games for the VFL Footscray Bulldogs across the 2024 and 2025 seasons.<\/p>\n

North Melbourne president Sonja Hood AM said: \u201cPhoenix was only at the club for a short time but he was a popular and well-liked member of the playing group.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the club, I would like pass on my condolences to Phoenix\u2019s family and friends at this extremely sad time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains images of deceased persons. Tributes are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,3195,208403,6855,208376,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-388908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-kangaroos","14":"tag-nicholson-ward","15":"tag-north-melbourne","16":"tag-phoenix-spicer","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}