A Darwin hockey player has died after a snake bit him on the finger at a training session.

Paramedics were called to the hockey complex in the suburb of Marrara on Tuesday night following reports that a player had collapsed and lost consciousness.

Karl Berry, 26, had picked up a snake that was loose at the hockey office complex.

It's understood a group of children as young as six had just finished their training and were nearby.

Karl's father, Ian, said he suspected his son didn't even realise he had been bitten.

"The bite mark on him was on the ring finger," he said.

"Just a graze. They didn't even see it until they went looking for it."

Testing later revealed Karl had been bitten by a western brown.

But, unknowing, Karl then went on a two-kilometre run.

"He went to do his warm-up run for his training, and he never came back from it," Ian said.

He said a group at the end of a training session found him crawling out of a drain near the basketball courts, and the ambulance was called.

St John ambulance spokesman Craig Garraway said Karl was conscious when paramedics arrived, and it took some questioning to uncover the details of the snake.

"After some discussion and investigation, we became aware he had picked up a snake ... and further investigation (showed) it had actually bitten him on the finger," Mr Garraway said.

He said Karl had thought the snake was a python.

"He had signs and symptoms of snake bite. He was becoming quite ill," Mr Garraway said.

"He'd been on a two-kilometre run, so obviously circulation had increased during that run."

Ian said Karl was taken to hospital and was treated in the intensive care unit, but he died on Wednesday night.

"The care and support we've had from Royal Darwin Hospital was absolutely astonishing," he said.

But Ian said it was still not clear why his son, who was eight years old when the family moved to Darwin, had picked up the snake in the first place.

"I was very, very surprised," he said.

"He's actually quite knowledgeable (about snakes).

"I've had it relayed to me ... one of the kids had, in fact, picked it up and he took it off him."

But he said they were still trying to piece together what happened, which was difficult as most of the witnesses were children.

'Mr Hockey'

Karl had played for the Commerce-Pints club since 1997.

He was captain of the A-grade side; he umpired, coached, and represented the Territory in under-15 and under-18 sides.

Informally, he was known in sport circles as Darwin's 'Mr Hockey'.

Senior hockey players in Darwin will have a minute's silence before all games this weekend to remember him.

The NT Hockey Association says A-grade players will wear black arm bands during all matches this weekend.

Territory reptile experts say the most likely highly venomous snake to be found in the vicinity of the Marrara sports complex is a western brown.

Darwin snake catcher Chris Peberdy says a bite from a western brown snake can easily not be noticed because it doesn't hurt.

"Then, within hours, you are looking at a lack of coordination, dilated pupils, then you go into the risk of the systemic effects which start affecting your heart, your lungs, your respiratory system," he said.

"You die if you don't get treatment. They're at least one to 1.5 times more toxic than the cobra."