Dressed in a striped shirt and black pants, the former Melbourne Football Club player told Chief Justice Trevor Riley at a court hearing in Alice Springs that he was pleading not guilty to the charge.
Jurrah could be jailed if found guilty of attacking his cousin Basil Jurrah in March last year at a town camp on the edge of Alice Springs.
On Monday a jury of five men and seven women was empanelled for the trial, expected to last six days.
Jurrah, who in 2010 was awarded the AFL's mark of the year and in 2011 was Melbourne's leading goal kicker, was delisted by the Demons at the end of the AFL season last year.
Port Adelaide invited Jurrah to train with the team but decided against picking up the talented forward in December's pre-season and rookie draft.
The club cited injury-related fitness concerns and his off-field troubles.