Sheriff will take no prisoners on return to old Shannon beat
He swapped a blue Leinster jersey for a blue uniform, and word is that the streets of Bray, County Wicklow, are safer these days with a six foot eight inch, 17 stone-plus giant on patrol.
On Sunday, along with his colleagues from County Carlow, he will be patrolling Thomond Park in a joust with former club Shannon, amidst hopes he can control that beat as well.
Although Carlow are well below second-placed Shannon in the AIB League table, the club have benefited from Sheriff's decision to pack up the pro game. He has picked up three Leinster senior cup medals, two with Carlow and one with Terenure, since his shock decision to go back to amateur rugby.
But you also sense that Irish rugby has lost the type of guy that could have made a huge impact on the international scene.
Certainly, he gave the matter considerable thought before he came to a decision. With even more certainty, he felt he was pushed into making it.
As a youngster, Sheriff was spotted playing for Gorey and asked to join Blackrock in Dublin.
He made a considerable early impact, going on to win eight Irish under-21 caps and he toured New Zealand and Samoa on an ill-fated Irish tour the "tour from hell" as he describes it.
He also represented Leinster at under-19, 20 and 21 level and was contracted as a senior player for two full seasons. In between, he won an AIB League medal with Shannon.
That spell in Limerick gave him the platform to push for a place on that Irish touring squad, but he doesn't have many happy memories of his time down under, nor at the lack of opportunity he subsequently experienced in the Leinster set-up.
Admitting that he is relatively unique in moving from professional back to amateur rugby at an early age, he doesn't quite agree that he walked: "I think it was more a case of being pushed, to be honest. I just wasn't getting the breaks and I'm not the kind of guy who likes sitting on the sidelines week in and week out and being just a tackle bag for other lads.
"My form at club level was good and I knew I was playing better than certain other players at the time. But I still wasn't getting the opportunities.
"It got to a stage where it wasn't for me, where there were other things in life that I wanted to do.
"Basically, while there wasn't probably anything wrong with the Leinster set-up, I didn't feel I was getting a fair chance and I reacted to that.
"I felt I trained as hard as anyone, played as well as anyone but still couldn't break into the side on a regular basis. That becomes very frustrating after a while. I was contracted but I felt I was being left to rot as well. I just wasn't prepared to put up with that."
These days Sheriff is a hero down Carlow way, a huge figure in the club's ability to hold their own in division one of the AIB League.
Sheriff's side face a tough examination on Sunday, with Shannon coming off the back of five consecutive victories.
With Munster in action tomorrow, Shannon coach Geoff Moylan will not be in a position to finalise his line up until after that game, although it would be unusual, given his selection policy to date, to deviate much from the side that beat Blackrock.
The star of that game, Tom Cregan, has a amassed 109 points in the league and given that he missed one game, it's a phenomenal record.
He could again be a key figure against a Carlow side that badly needs a recognised goal-kicker.
Cork Constitution are none too happy about having to play their tie against St. Mary's tomorrow at Temple Hill. Apparently a request to have the game put back to Sunday was turned down by the Dublin side.
But it's still a chance to pull further clear at the top and therefore put more pressure on Shannon the following day.
Meanwhile, Dolphin have made four changes to the team that defeated Lansdowne for their first ever AIL trip to Dungannon.
Eddie Knowles who came on as a sub at half-time in the last game is retained at prop. Donagh Keeshan switches to full back to replace the injured Mike Pettman while Shane O'Halloran comes in on the wing. John Pardoe replaces Philip O'Sullivan on the other wing.
UL Bohemian travel to Malone in division two but will be without Ryan Hartigan and Breffni O'Donnell who are exam-tied. The Limerick side have a game in hand over Bective Rangers, one of three sides above them.
Old Belvedere and Barnhall, the top two sides, can expect to beat Old Crescent and Waterpark respectively.
At the other end of the table, it's make or break day for Sunday's Well who take on DLSP at Musgrave Park.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
