Kiwis captain and National Rugby League (NRL) star Benji Marshall's assault case has been set down for a three-day defended hearing in August.
Marshall has pleaded not guilty to one count of assault after allegedly punching a man outside a central Sydney fast food outlet early on March 4.
In a repeat of his first scheduled Sydney court appearance on April 20, Marshall was not required to appear before Registrar Peter Morgan in the Downing Centre local court today. He was training with the Wests Tigers ahead of their departure for Auckland and Sunday's NRL clash against the New Zealand Warriors.
However, he will be in court when the defended hearing - the final stage of the process - starts on August 23.
His counsel John Byrnes expected 14 prosecution witnesses and five witnesses for the defence to give evidence.
It was originally claimed Marshall had been racially abused during the incident but those allegations -- made by his agent Martin Tauber -- were denied by the player and his alleged victim Soliman Naimey, a 24-year-old of Sri Lankan descent.
A witness claimed in March that Marshall was defending his girlfriend Zoe Balbi against a torrent of degrading taunts made by a group of males inside the restaurant when he allegedly lashed out.
The couple visited the restaurant with friends about 3am after starring at a black tie function to raise money for the Children's Cancer Institute of Australia.
Video taken outside the restaurant also shows the group antagonising Marshall and Balbi, but does not capture the scuffle because the revolving camera had turned away from the group when tensions flared.
