Neil Robertson’s season ended unexpectedly last year when he chose to cover the World Championship for the BBC rather than play at the Crucible. Despite this, he is making a lot of effort to make amends. One of the biggest upsets of the season was the Thunder from Down Under’s inability to make it to the Crucible. After a truly awful season that saw him fall out of the world’s top 16, his World Championship was abruptly terminated by a loss to Jamie Jones in the final qualifying round. The 42-year-old chose to accept the BBC’s offer to act as a pundit and commentator on the event, which he initially considered to be somewhat uncomfortable but ended up really
delighting. I remember thinking, “I’m going to look like an absolute idiot bringing my cue down to the Crucible and I’m not even in the tournament,” when they requested me to bring my cue so I could perform a demonstration. This is so embarrassing, oh my god! Robertson informed Metro.
Being there for the first time without playing was extremely painful, but it was also a very wise decision because it didn’t hurt as much as I had anticipated. I didn’t feel as foolish as I had anticipated. “It’s such a shame you’re not playing, you’re great on the punditry but I never want to hear you again,” people in the vicinity of the Crucible were saying over and over. I was surprised to hear from so many people that they wanted to see me at the table; I hadn’t anticipated that. I did really love it, but I don’t think I’ll be doing it at big events anytime soon because that would mean I’m not playing.
