Ricky Nixon’s driver’s licence reinstated pending speeding fine court battle

The former AFL player agent is preparing to contest a speeding fine alleging motorhomes were blocking his view of a new speed limit sign.

Former high-profile AFL player agent Ricky Nixon has had his licence reinstated ahead of a court battle to fight another speeding fine. Picture: Scott Barbour

Former high-profile AFL player agent Ricky Nixon has had his licence reinstated ahead of a court battle to fight another speeding fine.

Magistrate Franz Holzer had ordered Nixon, 59, off the road for three months and fined him $500 on one charge of exceeding the speed limit after he skipped court earlier this month.

Nixon, who played for Carlton, St Kilda and Hawthorn during his 10-year footy career, returned before Mr Holzer in Colac Magistrates Court on Monday to have the ex-parte ruling from March 6 overturned.

He claimed he wanted to contest the speeding fine, but wasn’t at court on that day because he was in South Australia for his health business.

Nixon, from Port Melbourne, said he had contacted the court seeking an adjournment, but never received the paperwork.

“I must admit I had forgotten all about it,” Nixon said, conceding he should have followed it up.

Police allege they clocked Nixon driving 97km/h in an 80km/h zone of the Princes Highway in Pirron Yallock in the state’s west on April 10 last year.

He was issued with a $363 infringement, but refused to pay, wanting it to instead go before a magistrate so he could contest it.

Former AFL player and manager Ricky Nixon with his new business Vital Health Checks. Picture: Facebook

Nixon told the court he was returning from administering Covid injections in Warrnambool with two nurses when he was stopped by officers.

He – and the nurses, who he said could vouch for him – firmly believed it was a 100km/h zone.

So much so, after receiving the on-the-spot infringement, they turned around to see when the speed had changed to 80km/h.

It was only then, he came across two motorhomes parked on the roadside that were blocking the new speed limit sign, he said.

He did not have photo evidence, Nixon said, because when he got out and asked to take a snap, the motorhome occupants “got nervous” and drove off.

Nixon said he travels around Australia for footy charity talks and his mobile ambulance business, Vital Health Checks.

“That’s why my licence is very important,” he said.

Mr Holzer reinstated Nixon’s driver’s licence pending the re-hearing of his case on May 1.

Nixon had initially been asked to return to court on April 24, but he pushed for a later date because it was a day before Anzac Day when he was “committed” to an event at the MCG.

It is not the only speeding fine Nixon is fighting in court, with a contested hearing set down in Melbourne Magistrates Court in May over a $300 infringement for allegedly driving 92km/h in an 80km/h zone of the Midland Highway on June 14, 2021.

In that case, he earlier told the court he was heading to a Neale Daniher charity golf event and recalled a “digital sign” had shown the speed was due to change from 100km/h to 80km/h at midnight.

Nixon managed many footy greats, including Wayne Carey, Gary Ablett Snr and Ben Cousins, in the prime of his career.

But that ended when the AFL Players’ Association slapped him with a two-year ban after being caught in a hotel room with a 17-year-old girl in the “St Kilda School Girl” scandal in 2011.