In short:
Ryan Hawkshaw and Hayden Topliss have pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of having sexual intercourse without consent.
Their alleged victim said she was raped by both men in 2023.
What's next?
The trial is due to run up to 10 days.
A New South Wales jury has been told a woman repeatedly said "no" and "stop" before she was allegedly raped by two country rugby league footballers.
Warning: this story includes details of alleged acts some readers may find distressing.
Ryan Matthew Hawkshaw, 27, and Hayden Charles Topliss, 37, are facing a joint trial in Newcastle District Court after pleading not guilty to a series of charges.
The men are facing four counts of aggravated sexual intercourse in company regarding the alleged rape in Scone in the early hours of the morning in 2023.
The complainant, who cannot be named, continued her evidence on Wednesday before being cross examined.
The woman said she knew of Mr Hawkshaw "as a footy boy" before meeting him.
'Footy boy'
At the time, both men played for the Scone Thoroughbreds in the Hunter Valley Group 21 Rugby League competition.
Under cross examination the woman denied being interested in Mr Hawkshaw because he was a footy player.
"I knew he was on the [footy] team, I knew he was on the Scone team, I guess," she said.
In her opening address on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Charisse Hodgeman told jurors the woman had exchanged prior Instagram messages with Mr Hawkshaw.
The messages talked about giving lifts and sex.
The night
The court heard on the night before the alleged assault Mr Hawkshaw messaged saying "oi pick us up" to give the two defendants a lift.
Ms Hodgeman told jurors the woman picked the men up from a local RSL club that night, driving them to "Toppers" [Topliss's] house, as requested.
Once there the court heard she had consensual sex with Mr Hawkshaw before he asked if she wanted "Topper" to join.
The Crown said the woman said "no" before Mr Topliss came in naked.
Ms Hodgeman told the jury the woman repeatedly said "no" and "stop" as she was forced down, repositioned and assaulted.
She "repeatedly said she did not want to have threesome" when Mr Hawkshaw said "come on, we'll get Topper in".
The prosecutor told jurors she confided in a relative the next day.
"She said she 'felt like she had been raped',"the Crown prosecutor said.
Sexual consent
Both men said all sexual acts were consensual and reject claims they operated as part of a joint criminal enterprise.
In her opening address barrister Sharyn Hall, representing Mr Topliss, told jurors they had probably all heard "far too much about footballers and their sex lives".
Ms Hall said it might be easy to "assume the worst" in relation to what footballers got up to on their weekends.
She then paused and said if they made assumptions they would be in breach of the promise they had made to the court.
"Hayden Topliss maintains that each of the sexual acts that happened in that spare bedroom were consensual," Ms Hall said.
Barrister Caitlin Akthar, representing Mr Hawkshaw, questioned whether they could rely on the complainant.
"The issue is whether you can rely on her evidence beyond reasonable doubt, and are you satisfied she is being honest and accurate in her evidence?"she said.
Messages exchanged
While under cross examination of the complainant Ms Akthar took her through some Instagram messages, including one on the night of the alleged rape.
Ms Akthar put to the woman that Mr Hawkshaw had messaged her that night saying he wanted to have sex with her. The woman agreed that was the exchange.
It was then put to the complainant that she had replied asking whether he was sure "because what about the other chick". The woman confirmed that she sent the message.
Mr Topliss is facing a fifth charge of sexually assaulting the woman on the same night and a sixth charge of sexual touching the complainant in 2024.
The trial is due to run up to 10 days.
