Missing out on the Crucible jolted Neil Robertson into making drastic changes behind the scenes. It has been a rollercoaster couple of years for the Australian potter, who shockingly failed to qualify for last year’s World Championship after an alarming downturn in form.
However, the 2010 world champion has zoomed back up the rankings as quickly as he tumbled down them, winning the English Open and the World Grand Prix to comfortably book his place in Sheffield without needing to negotiate qualifying.
“I can’t think of anyone who has done anything like it before because I’d gone from number one or two in the world a couple of years ago to missing out on the Crucible,” recalled Robertson, 43, ahead of his World Championship opener against Chris Wakelin on Saturday.
“So it was a dramatic fall followed by an incredible U-turn. Some people will consider this my best-ever season, considering I’ve had to reclimb the mountain. It’s definitely right up there, for sure.”
Cambridge-based Robertson put his downturn down to several issues, including homesickness. He explained: “Emotionally, I started to think about Australia a bit more, ‘Am I going to start winding down and move back to Australia?’
“That off-season [in 2023], I guess you could say I was lazy. I just took too much time off. I didn’t start the season particularly well. My head was in a different space.
“I was thinking, ‘Can I do this a bit more from Australia with all the China tournaments? Can I go to Australia for a couple of weeks [between tournaments]?’
“I was allowing a lot of emotion to come into my thinking. You can’t be like that. You need to be ultra-focused to make it as a top sportsman. I just lost my focus and then stopped enjoying the game.
“I didn’t enjoy competing, which I usually love, and I fell back into the trap of online gaming again. That started the slippery slope. Last season, my confidence was quite low and players were a lot more confident against me. I was practising hard but couldn’t buy any results.
“I then decided to go to Australia around Christmas for a couple of months, which affected my ranking because I missed a couple of tournaments. But that trip was key because it gave me a mental reset.”
Not reaching the Crucible prompted Robertson to take positive action as he assembled a backroom team. He enlisted the help of fellow professional and long-time friend Joe Perry and sports psychologist Helen Davies, who has worked with Olympic athletes and top tennis stars.
“I’d had enough of the bad results,” added Robertson, who recently took up golf, which has helped keep him off the computer games. I needed to stand up and be accountable and not feel sorry for myself.
“I set up a team. With snooker players, we don’t really have the finances of a tennis player or a golfer. But I’ve had a good career, so I thought I’d reinvest money back in myself, and it’s paid massive dividends.
“Joe is like a sounding board. He’s with me for the tournaments in the UK. We talk a lot about strategy. He doesn’t get involved in any technical stuff, although if there was a massive red flag, he would say so because he knows my game as well as anyone. He can spot what’s right about my game and what’s not. It’s going really well.”
On working with Davies, Robertson explained: “I’d always been my own sports psychologist in a way, or so I thought. Straight away after the first session, I thought, ‘Wow, how have I not been doing this for the last 10 years?’
“She was probably the main factor in the turnaround. She really gave me the tools to move forward with things, set a plan, mindset, breathing. She was awesome.”
It’s 15 years since the Thunder from Down Under lifted the trophy at the Crucible. His record since is underwhelming, but 2025 is something of a fresh start for him.
“Going into it with this fresh mindset is important,” he said. “I’ve been really aggressive with my game this season, and it’s paid dividends. I’ve been able to get onto rolls with four or five-frame bursts where I’ve completely taken the match away from my opponent.
“I’ve got to continue that and play every session on my terms. Play attacking and a good brand of snooker that people like watching.”
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