Neil Robertson ‘swagger has receded’ but he can follow Judd Trump and Mark Selby in returning to top – Dave Hendon

We can only ask why things have gone wrong for Neil Robertson because so much had previously gone right.

The Australian is the most successful non-British player in snooker history and has enjoyed a remarkable run of success since he captured his first significant title in 2006, winning at least one tournament every calendar year since.

Yet so far in 2023 he has come up dry. His last ranking title was at the Tour Championship in April 2022. Since then he has only reached three semi-finals. From this season’s four completed ranking events he has lost twice in the first round and twice in the second.

The trademark Aussie swagger has receded.

Robertson’s projected end of season ranking is currently slipping into the 20s and could go even further. .

“Nobody will know how hard it is being from the other side of the world,” Robertson wrote.

“In the blink of an eye your brothers who were your best friends are suddenly 20 years older. It will be four years since I’ve seen them and I can’t wait to go home.”

The Melbournian first arrived on British shores as a gangly 16 year-old in 1998. His initial spell as a professional ended quickly and it looked like he might not be heard from again, but he persevered, won the 2003 world under 21 title and returned to the UK.

Joe Perry helped him settle in Cambridge and showed him the qualities needed to compete on tour. Robertson had left his family behind. It required considerable mental fortitude to plough on with his dream on the other side of the world away from the familiar comforts of home.

But he started to get results and in 2005 qualified for the Crucible, losing only 10-7 to Stephen Hendry. The following year he captured the Grand Prix, his first ranking title, and established himself as a consistent winner.

At his best, Robertson is unplayable. He has a beautifully straight cue action, is the best long potter in the sport, has developed an iron tactical game, and has tremendous poise under pressure. His focus as a break-builder is legendary. A decade ago he made 103 centuries in a single season.

These qualities have sustained him as one of the most successful players of the last 15 years, with 23 ranking titles, including the 2010 World Championship, plus two Masters titles and two Champion of Champions victories to his name.

During the 2021/22 season, he won four titles during a period of dominance that left his rivals in the shade.

So why have things gone wrong more recently?

As a father of young children, he is susceptible to the colds and bugs they might bring home from school, and was clearly not well in himself at the UK Championship or the Masters, but it’s not always about bad luck.

Robertson is a proud competitor, a man for the big occasion, but must accept that, sometimes, he has lost because he hasn’t played well enough. It can’t always be because of the venue, the opponent’s chalk, the table conditions, feeling under the weather, a difficult journey, cue issues etc.

Deep down he knows this because he is a self-analyst, frequently watching his matches back and trying to learn where he can improve. In particular, he is mindful of guarding against going negative in matches, slowing down for no reason, and losing his natural rhythm.

Sometimes your opponents will just outplay you. It can be hard to take, but it’s a fact of sport. The challenge is not to become too disenchanted.

Robertson has a big heart. During Covid, he offered to help lower-ranked players pay their bills. He has spoken openly of mental health issues within his own family. In a sport which encourages its exponents to repress their emotions, he often shows his.

Of course, he is not alone in experiencing a mini-slump. Mark Selby was trophyless from winning the 2021 World Championship until victory at the English Open 18 months later. He now looks like his old self again.

Judd Trump had gone 19 months without a ranking title until he won the English Open earlier this month. He then went just seven days until winning another in Wuhan.

Ronnie O’Sullivan had predicted as much on Eurosport, arguing that the likes of Selby and Trump are simply too good for such a barren spell to continue. The same is surely true of Robertson.

So much of sport is about character. Robertson’s best qualities outside of his actual game are his positivity and persistence. There must have been freezing cold days in the English winter years ago when he wondered why he was putting himself through an ordeal which had no guarantee of success. But he kept going. He didn’t give up. He made it to the top through his own will and industry.

Ultimately the Neil Robertson story is one of triumph over adversity. He has made sacrifices and faced challenges alien to most British players.

This resolve is now key to ending the title drought. Robertson has already walked a longer road than most in his pursuit of sporting glory. A few more steps are needed now to return to winning ways.