Neil Robertson interview: ‘I had no qualifications, money or job prospects – that is real pressure’

Updated 26/04/2019 at 04:16 GMT

2010 world champion Neil Robertson speaks to Eurosport's Desmond Kane at the Crucible about the hardship and hurdles he cleared to become Australia's greatest snooker player.

Neil Robertson

Image credit: PA Sport

In the money, and in the know, but the life and times of Neil Robertson has not been all sweetness and light. There have been more hazardous moments when his burgeoning cue skills were almost buried by the harsh and unremitting realities of genuine hardship.

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The pressure of trying to win the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield is nothing compared to the battle to stay off skid row. Robertson, who overcame Graeme Dott 18-13 to lift the world title in these parts in 2010, knows about both of these unique demands. And he knows which one is infinitely more appealing.

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Robertson, 37, is favourite to win a second title in Sheffield having earned a whopping £405,000 from his past four tournaments including carrying off the Welsh Open and China Open in the best season of his career. It is a contrasting tale of largesse compared to the lean years when money was too tight to mention.

Neil Robertson of Australia kisses the trophy after the final match against Jack Lisowski of England on day 7 of the 2019 XingPai China Open at Olympic Sports Centre on April 7, 2019 in Beijing, China.

Image credit: Eurosport

He remembers standing in a queue at the local job centre in Melbourne at the outset of 2003 with no job, no qualifications and three failed attempts behind him on the UK-based professional tour. He was facing the grim reality that his time dedicated to snooker truly was the sign of a misspent youth.

“I was in the queue at the job centre. I had no other option. I didn’t have any qualifications having left school at 15,” Robertson told Eurosport.

“I didn’t really want to do anything, and didn’t know what I was going to do. I remember being in there, and there was this guy kicking off at the counter because they weren’t going to pay him.

“I don’t know what the system is over here, but you have to do 10 job interviews over two weeks. He was kicking off, swearing, saying f*** this, f*** that.

“I was like: “Oh my God, is this my life ahead?” That was at the start of 2003.

“Less than a year later I played Jimmy White in the Masters at the Wembley Conference Centre. I think there was lots of twist and turns along the way. If I had a lot of time to think about.”

The world number four Robertson has become both a snooker explorer, idealist and philosopher.

He recalls attempting the World Championship at the age of 17 in 1999 when he reached the third qualifying round.

But while the three-times winner Mark Selby is Leicester’s favourite snooker son, Robertson admitted a stretch there in the early noughties almost buried his true Aussie green baize grit.

“I moved to Leicester in 2002, absolutely hated it and was convinced I didn’t want to be any part of the game,” said Robertson.

I just thought: I can’t live in this country coming from Melbourne. No disrespect to Leicester, but it’s not Melbourne.

“I thought of myself reaching a certain standard. Comparing what I’d be earning as top 30 or 40 player to what I could earn living back in Melbourne.

“I thought the sacrifice wasn’t worth it. I thought there wasn’t any way I could live in England.

“I moved over for a five-month period during the winter which made it worse. An absolute nightmare for a young Australian to do.

“Results were terrible, I hated it and just went back home. But then when I got back home, I suddenly wondered what I would do to earn money?

Robertson pots two reds at once

“Me and my brother were living together at the time in Melbourne. He was working in a pizza shop and an ice cream shop.

“I was kind of lazing around, playing pool and snooker comps, not earning any money. Just sort of surviving from week to week.

“My mum was looking at options of courses for teenagers and younger people who have dropped out of school too early.

“I was maybe looking at a trade I might like. In between those ideas and playing a few tournaments, my mum’s partner Chris was really supportive of my snooker and so was my dad. That kind of relieved pressure a bit saying to me you don’t have to win every event.

“When you come back from England, everybody just expects you to win everything. The amateur tour in Australia is really good.

“Each event is worth £2,000-£2500 and there are around 14 of those a season. So you can earn enough on the side to scrape by.

“I won four of them.”

How Robertson won the China Open

Robertson is known as the 'Melbourne Potting Machine'. He is the direct opposite of 'Steady' Eddie Charlton, an Aussie player who once apparently blurted out "f*** the crowd" after being asked about reducing the Crucible audience to a mogadon state such was the unnecessary rusting nature of deliberating over every shot.

Robertson catapulted himself back into the frame for riches when he won the World Under-21 Championship in New Zealand in July 2003 including a victory over a teenage Ding Junhui, the 2016 world finalist, in the semi-finals which enabled him to earn a wildcard spot back on the main tour.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try and try again.

“I kind of fell back in love with the game after not winning a match in England,” said Robertson, who clearly thinks more about snooker than just the balls confronting him on a table.

“Steve Mifsud (Australian professional) played a big part in my re-focussing on making it over here. He won the world amateur championship in 2002, and he moved over to the UK.

“He moved over to the academy run by Keith Warren (in Rushden) where Peter Ebdon (world champion at the time), was playing and Ding had just come over from China.

“It went from me wanting to forget about it to think I should give this one more chance. I beat Ding in the semis, won the tournament and then I moved to Cambridge in 2003, and Cambridge is a lot different to Leicester.

Robertson's fluke of season contender

“I was only 21 so it was a great feel to it. I lived in a house together with fellow Australians Johl Younger and Steve with a pub around the corner. Cambridge is an amazing city to live in.

“I stayed on, and kept my tour card. The rest is history. It’s amazing when I look back on it. It was 15 years ago.

It’s different over here. You’ve got all the best practice facilities. You’ve got all the best players to practice with. I didn’t have any of that. I don’t want to blow my own trumpet, but I think my story is really inspirational for other overseas players trying to make it here.

Robertson has plenty of anecdotes from a career that has brought him 16 ranking titles including the world at the age of 28 and two UK titles. He also lifted the Masters title in 2012.

He will become the first man to break £1m in earnings on a table for a season if he collects the £500,000 on offer for lifting this trophy. He has landed £590,590 on the seasonal list. He needs a ready reckoner as much as a cue.

“Turning professional is really hard, but a lot of people ask me what is the reward for that? And I say it is barely minimum wage," said Robertson.

“Then they ask: is it really worth it for all the hours upon hours. When I talk about 2003, I remember playing Terry Murphy in the first round of a qualifier and the winner got £1500. The loser got nothing.

“My friend (and fellow professional) Matt Selt went: 'I’ll have a £50 saver with you. If you lose, I’ll give you £50, but if you win you have to give me £100'. I took it because that £50 was basically my train ticket back to Prestatyn for the next qualifier because I basically had nothing. I didn’t have any money.”

Robertson admits the investment in snooker is really starting to give the sport much-needed credibility after years where people were scraping by. The world's top 61 have all earned over £40,000 for their seasonal exploits with the games top 32 clearing £75,000. Not bad for a sport that was heading for the long grass of dereliction a decade ago.

“Now you are starting to see the reward for the popularity of the game worldwide and the TV viewing figures,” said Robertson, an avid Chelsea FC supporter. “Football is not a sport that lives in the real world. It’s the nature of the beast with the television deals in the sport, but snooker is heading in the right direction.

“It’s good to see the money will start filtering down so becoming a professional snooker player gives you the chance to earn a good living.

“A few years ago, it was just the top five or six that were earning good money, but it would taper down drastically, with rest of the top 64 barely surviving.”

He failed to qualify for the Masters in 2018 after dropping out of the top 16 due to serious personal issues, most notably his wife Mille beating her battle with depression.

He has also kicked a worrying addiction to online computer games. This is like a second coming for his life and career after Mille gave birth to their second child, a baby daughter Penelope last month.

Priorities have changed which makes him a player with serious purpose.

“When you are travelling and are going to China, your mind has to be in a place where you want to be away for a week and a half to get the job done,” said Robertson, who clubbed Michael Georgiou 10-1 in the first round.

“That wasn't happening over the past few years. To be in a mental position like that is just amazing. The second time having children is much easier. Mille has been incredible during this period. I’m here completely refreshed.

"I'm playing the best snooker I've ever played."

Robertson admits he may return to Australia one day when he will no doubt be a fabulous raconteur from a life well lived, but he hopes that time is a long way off.

Having braved a winter of discontent early in his career, Robertson's career trajectory is suddenly resembling the full bloom of a UK summer with more than a hint of a sweet Aussie aroma about it. The sweet smell of success.

Desmond Kane at the Crucible Theatre

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