Jurors considering allegations former NRL star Jarryd Hayne raped a woman say they're "making good progress" in the jury room.
The jury will return to the Sydney District Court on Monday to continue their deliberations which began on Wednesday afternoon.
"I acknowledge and accept you are making good progress," Judge Helen Syme said on Friday afternoon, in response to a jury note.
"As I said a couple of days ago, there is no rush."
Hayne, 33, pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault stemming from an encounter with a then-26-year-old woman in her Newcastle home in 2018.
He accepts the woman told him she wouldn't have "sex" but testified they later kissed and he commenced consensual oral and digital sex.
The Crown argues the former State of Origin player felt entitled to sex when he went to the woman's home, having left his friends drinking at a bucks party and also missing watching his old teammates in the NRL grand final that evening.
The woman testified Hayne was "rough, forceful and inconsiderate," despite her protests of "no" and "no Jarryd," and pushed her face into the pillow before ripping her jeans off.
Judge Syme said she knew the jury was going through the evidence sequentially, given its requests for particular transcripts from the trial.
"Can I give you my sincere thanks for the effort you are making in this matter?" she said.
She also suggested the jury not think of the matter over the weekend and not discuss the trial until all 12 jurors were back in the jury room on Monday.
"As much as possible, try to give your brains a rest over the weekend," Judge Syme said.
Australian Associated Press
