De Belin and co-accused Callan Sinclair are fighting accusations they both raped a woman in a Wollongong apartment almost two years ago.

The pair arrived separately at Wollongong courthouse after 9.30am, flanked by their legal teams.

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In the district court trial, which is expected to last three weeks, the Crown will allege de Belin, 29, and Sinclair, 22, penetrated a 19-year-old woman vaginally, anally and orally without her consent at an apartment on Gipps Street, North Wollongong, on December 9, 2018.

Crown prosecutor David Scully said the alleged rape occurred at de Belin's cousin's apartment, who was away at the time.

De Belin and Sinclair have each been charged with four counts of aggravated sexual assault in company, as well as aggravated sexual assault in company causing actual bodily harm.

The alleged victim's name can't be published for legal reasons.

During the court proceedings, de Belin and Sinclair both entered the witness box to formally plead not guilty to all five charges.

A pool of potential jurors heard that a list of about 50 witnesses would provide evidence during the trial including de Belin's partner Alyce Taylor along with St George Illawarra Dragons players Adam Clune and Euan Aitken as well as those who were with the pair during the night out following a popular festive pub crawl.

During the empanelling process, several potential jury members were challenged and excused.

Judge Andrew Haesler gave the selected jury their instructions and explained the process during the trial.

He told the jury members that they must "bring impartially and rationality to the process" and must "approach the matter in a logical and rational fashion".

Judge Haesler explained that all the members must hear all the evidence, which would include witness statements, CCTV footage, documents, photographs, before deciding "beyond reasonable doubt" whether the men were guilty.

Lawyers for de Belin and Sinclair, along with the Crown prosecutor, are expected to give their opening addresses outlining the case to the jury panel on Tuesday morning.

The pair were due to stand trial in early February however lawyers for both men raised legal complications in the case they said needed to be resolved before a trial could begin.

Lengthy pre-trial arguments coupled with restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of the trial until today.

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