Sarah Anne McGrath, 35, Haydn Patrick Smith, 51, George Stoll, 25, and Bradley Triffitt, 31, were charged after the alleged incident on May 14, 2020.

All four have pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to a person with intent and the alternative charge of wound person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Mr Triffitt has also pleaded not guilty to being armed with a hammer with intent to commit an indictable offence.

At Wagga District Court on Monday, prosecutor Max Pincott said the Crown would argue that the four of them had taken part in a "joint criminal enterprise" that led to Tim Orr being wounded.

He said Mr Orr and Ms McGrath were in an "on and off" relationship for about two years but they had separated by the time of the alleged incident.

Mr Pincott said the Crown's case showed that on May 13, Mr Orr was at Ms McGrath's home and left after 11pm.

But, Mr Pincott said, when Mr Orr returned to the house early on the morning of May 14, Mr Stoll also showed up.

"He [Mr Orr] will tell you at that point he was looking down, and as he was looking up, Mr Stoll struck him with a black machete," Mr Pincott said.

According to the Crown's case, the pair grappled over the machete before Mr Orr managed to grab it and strike Mr Stoll's abdomen.

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Mr Pincott said then Ms McGrath was told by Mr Stoll to "call the boys". He said the Crown relies on the evidence of Mr Orr and the text messages and phone calls between the four accused to prove what happened.

Michael King, the barrister for Mr Stoll, said while there was no dispute that his client was at Ms McGrath's home at that time, it was for a different reason.

He said Mr Stoll went to see another friend nearby, but he was not welcome due to the late hour, so he went to Ms McGrath's home.

"The real dispute will be why George Stoll went to Sarah McGrath's house on the night and ... who chopped who first," Mr King said.

"Firstly, he absolutely denies that he went to the house as some criminal enterprise."

Mr King said that his client also denies the machete was his and instead belonged to Mr Orr, who had "an affection" for them.

"Mr Orr, drug-affected and paranoid, got spooked when Ms McGrath left him alone [with Mr Stoll]," he said. "Tim Orr pulled out the black-handed machete and sliced Mr Stoll."

Mr King said that his client then managed to get ahold of the weapon and struck Mr Orr in "self-defence".

Colin Heazlewood, Mr Smith's barrister, pointed out that his client was not at the house at the time of the attack.

"He [Mr Orr] can only talk about what happened in the house ... which alone doesn't really implicate the other three accused," he said.

"The issue is whether or not they demonstrate an agreement between the parties that Mr Orr will be assaulted ... that's the Crown case. That's what's disputed."

A number of witnesses are expected to testify, with the trial estimated to run for at least two weeks.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

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