A jury found former NRL player Manase Fainu guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after a 2019 stabbing in Sydney's south-west.
Fainu was sentenced to eight years in prison for stabbing Faamanu Levi in the back during a brawl in a Wattle Grove car park in October 2019.
The stabbing happened at a church dance and punctured Levi's lung.
Fainu's adjustment to prison was almost as difficult as the transition out, after time in some of Sydney's most notorious prisons, several of them maximum-security.
He said he encountered things that stayed with him and remained alert to the behaviour of people around him.
"I just kept looking over my shoulder," Fainu said.
"I sussed their behaviour and their character, how they are around you. If something feels suspicious or out of the ordinary, you've just got your guard up, ready to go."