By Elliott West
“It is very frustrating. If I could hit them over the head with my cue I’d love to, but I’d lose the match”.
Neil Robertson
Introduction
Form is a precious commodity in snooker and when you have it, the sky is the limit but if it dries up as unfortunately the case with the peaks and troughs of play, the result can be catastrophic. One such player who is scratching his blonde locks at the moment is the man they call “The Thunder from Down Under”, Neil Robertson. We all know the rags to riches story of Robertson leaving Australia with a couple of hundred pounds and following his snooker dreams of making a success in snooker in the UK. Robertson has more than proved himself as a professional, winning 23 ranking titles and 4 non-ranking titles. The triple crown winner and former number one is a class act and is feared on the green baize, a player who isn’t afraid to display his emotions when he is in the winning zone. An Australian force who is a demon break builder and can more than often win a frame in one break.
Hitting a Wall
However, something has gone wrong with the Australian’s game. He looks tired and dejected, almost ready for his next defeat. He ends 2023 without winning any major silverware, the first time since 2005. A season that has become a nightmare that just won’t go away. His year ended with a bruising 6-2 defeat to Zhao Yuelong in the first round of the UK Championship. A defeat that means that he won’t be eligible to take part in next year’s Grand Prix. An embarrassing loss for someone who has won the UK Championship on three occasions in 2013, 2015 and 2020. So it is not surprising that Neil chose to see out the remainder of the season, avoiding the Snooker Shootout and the Scottish Open.
Instead, Robertson has boarded a plane with his wife and children and flew to Australia. A homeland that he hasn’t been back to for over five years due to work commitments and the previous restrictions that the Coronavirus imposed on air travel. A homesick player, missing his family and friends that he hasn’t seen for so long. Perhaps a return to his place of birth will be that kickstart that he needs, a well-deserved break that may kick-start his weak form.
The Perry Factor
Robertson has reached out to his friend, Joe Perry for some mentoring. A man who knows his game inside out, having been his practice partner since he first came to the UK. Perry’s task will be to deconstruct his game and remove the negative elements of it. This won’t be an easy task because fine-tuning is far from easy. Yet you just have to look at Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump, to see that someone fighting in your corner produces positivity. This a much-needed aid when you enter a venue where your opponent and the table can drown you and your only assistance comes from the provided chair and water.
The Waiting Game
To produce excellence, you have to be patient and patience is a virtue that has been bestowed on Joe Perry with abundance. Whether it is in the Cambridge snooker club or the venue practice room, Joe knows Neil’s game inside out so he is the perfect candidate to get his friend back on the success trail. Whatever the problem, be it a mental fault or a tweak to his game, Joe is suitable to rebuild this snooker puzzle. Neil is far too good to be down on his luck for long and his first major test will come in the New Year when Robertson returns from his Christmas break in Australia. He has been drawn against Barry Hawkins in the first round. A tough draw especially as Barry is in top form at the moment. Robertson may have to disturb his turkey dinner with some practice and a Zoom call to Joe Perry if he is going to win against this tough cookie. The World No.6 will have to show signs of improvement in this non-ranking, invitational event. Otherwise, he could easily slide down the rankings in the New Year with the swathe of tournaments in the snooker calendar in 2024.
Tough Opposition
I don’t think Neil is playing that badly. It’s the stiff opposition that he is facing in his matches. Many of his opponents are match-sharp from their qualifying matches and are victory-hungry when a tournament starts. These players are just performing very well and beating the Australian is a massive feather in their cap. This is being translated elsewhere with wins over the likes of Luca Brecel, Judd Trump and Mark Selby. Robertson has failed to go beyond the last 64 of six ranking events and suffered two first-round exits at the European Masters and English Open and at the last-32 stage of the UK Championship.
Despite not entering the Championship League at the start of the season, his best performance was at the Shanghai Masters where he reached the semi-finals, losing to Luca Brecel 10-7. However, as this was an invitational event, this did not count towards his ranking. Robertson is already plummeting in the rankings in the provisional lists, dropping to 29th in the provisional end-of-season rankings and 86th on the one-year list. This may affect his getting to the event stage of the German Masters at the Tempodrom, Berlin at the end of January 2024. Robertson may be hoping that he gets the wishbone from the turkey on Christmas Day. However, I do think that the problem is more of a mindset issue.
