Mr Rogerson, 73, and Mr McNamara, 55, appeared in Central Local Court on Thursday via video link from Silverwater jail where they are being held on remand.

The men, wearing prison greens, sat next to each other as their lawyers told magistrate Les Mabbutt they wished to bypass the committal step and proceed straight to trial.

The court was told that 2.78 kilograms of the drug methamphetamine, also known as ice, was allegedly found in Mr McNamara's car.

The pair will be arraigned in the Supreme Court on March 6.

Outside the court, Mr Rogerson's lawyer Paul Kenny, said his client "just wants to get to trial as soon as possible".

"I think it's in the interests of justice that we do things as quickly as we can," Mr Kenny said.

"I think you'll find in many respects there mightn't be too much in dispute in relation to the police case so we're anxious to get to trial as soon as possible."

Asked about his client's condition, Mr Kenny said: "He's all right, he's not in the best of health, he's doing the best he can, but he's being treated very well by Corrective Services. They're looking after all his medical needs."

The pair are alleged to have shot Jamie Gao, 20, dead in a storage unit in Padstow in May last year and discarding his body in the sea off Cronulla, in Sydney's south.

Police allege the killing followed a botched drug deal involving ice.