How often do you hear about a softball player putting a shot on a front-rower from a kick-off? Then again, Jesse Taws isn't your ordinary softball player.
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The Australian shortstop has put national honours on hold in search of Canberra Raiders Cup glory.
The Woden Valley Rams winger isn't looking back despite the lure of the upcoming softball world championships with the Rams now in the hunt for a finals berth.
The Rams have won four of their last five games, but their toughest test comes this weekend against the Queanbeyan Blues at Seiffert Oval.
It's a test Taws has had pencilled in for quite some time, with a win over the reigning premiers needed to keep Woden's finals hopes alive.
"This weekend is pretty much like a semi-final for us," Taws said.
"We all know what it's going to take to actually win this, and right now we've got an opportunity against one of the good teams and we're looking forward to it."
Rams coach Ash Barnes backed Taws' comments, saying that Saturday's clash with the Blues is do-or-die.
"We just basically need to keep winning," Barnes said.
"If we lose we're relying on other results to go our way, so we're definitely looking to win all of our games for the rest of the year."
After representing Australia at the under-19 softball world championships, the urge to return to rugby league proved too hard to ignore.
"A couple of years ago I had to make a choice, and at that stage I was playing for Australia in softball," Taws said.
"I decided to give league up for a while. I always knew that I could come back, so once I played for Australia in Argentina (at the under-19 world championships) I knew that I could come back and play football, so I gave that another go last year."
The 23-year-old burst on to the scene in his return to Woden, proving one of the most dominant players in reserve grade before earning his maiden first grade jersey in round four.
Barnes said Taws has developed so quickly that he is now "one of the first picked" in Woden's 17 every week.
"It was a hard decision to give up softball," Taws said.
"Obviously the commitment I had to have for footy, I couldn't have it for two sports. It was hard to just give it up, but in saying that the club made it a lot easier as well."
Barnes said that while Taws has built a reputation for doing the tough stuff, they still poke fun at the winger about his softball exploits.
"We do tease him a little bit about it, but that's something that he's always enjoyed," Barnes said.
Taws finds himself in good company when the softball sledges start, with Rams skipper Tim Crome also on the receiving end.
"He used to play softball as well, so me and him both get it," Taws said.
"But it's just a bit of banter, they just give it to anyone."
CANBERRA RAIDERS CUP
Round 15: Saturday - Queanbeyan Blues vs Woden Valley Rams at Seiffert Oval, Queanbeyan Kangaroos vs Yass Magpies at Freebody Oval, West Belconnen Warriors vs Tuggeranong Bushrangers at Raiders Belconnen, Belconnen United Sharks vs Gungahlin Bulls at O'Connor Oval. All games at 3pm.
