AFL star Liam Jurrah was a leader in a fight and struck his cousin on the head with a machete, Alice Springs Magistrates Court has been told.
Prosecutor Stephen Robson said the Melbourne player and his two co-accused, Christopher Walker and Josiah Fry, took part in a fight on March 7 at the Little Sisters town camp near Alice Springs.
"It is alleged Liam Jurrah struck (his cousin) Basil Jurrah to the head with a machete," Mr Robson told a committal hearing on Monday.
Jurrah, Walker and Fry are charged with four counts of aggravated assault, one of being armed with an offensive weapon at night and one of unlawfully causing serious harm.
The altercation had its roots in an ongoing dispute at the town of Yuendumu, where Jurrah was born, and the death of a Warlpiri man in 2010, Mr Robson said.
He said that on March 7, Walker confronted a group of people sitting around a campfire at Little Sisters and told them, "I am here now, anybody want to fight me? I am one of the murderers".
Walker also allegedly said he would get his family and come back. He then left the camp and returned with a group, which included Jurrah and Walker at the front, Mr Robson told the court.
"It is alleged that Liam Jurrah as well as Christopher Walker were both armed with weapons," Mr Robson said. He said the group had a common intent to assault people.
Jurrah hit someone with a weapon on the left side of their head and chased them to a home, where another person was also hit on the head, Mr Robson said.
Police were called and the group dispersed, but relatives and friends of both groups were told of the incident and reinforcements were called in, he said.
At the nearby Hidden Valley town camp, a group that included Basil Jurrah got in a vehicle and headed for Little Sisters, while Liam Jurrah's group met elsewhere and their numbers grew, the court heard.
Allan Collins told the court he was one of those who travelled to Little Sisters.
He said some of the group were a little drunk because they had been drinking beer.
Under questioning from Jon Tippett, QC, who represents Jurrah, Mr Collins said that after arriving at Little Sisters, some people from his group obtained weapons including nulla nullas and an axe.
At Little Sisters the fighting continued with some people fleeing to nearby bushland, the court heard. The hearing continues.
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