Ahead of his Crucible return Neil Robertson explains why this has been his 'best ever season'

Fifteen years on from his greatest day in the sport when he lifted the World Championship trophy, Australia's number one is set to take part in his 20th Crucible campaign, although returns to snooker's grandest stage having missed out on the party 12 months ago for the first time in two decades.

Robertson won seven ranking event titles within the space of 27 months between 2020 to 2022, but following the last of those wins at the Tour Championship in April 2022, he suffered an unexpected silverware shortage.

Two years without a ranking event victory saw Robertson slip outside the world's top 16 rankings just before the 2024 World Championship, meaning he had to attend the qualifying rounds in order to reach the main draw at the Crucible.

At those preliminaries, Robertson won his opening tie but was pipped 10-9 by Jamie Jones in the final qualifying round, resulting in the Triple Crown winner not making it to the Crucible Theatre; the last time that happened was in 2004.

However, since that shock to the system, Robertson has regrouped and enjoyed a rejuvenating season that has seen him return to the winners' circle on the professional circuit.

Last September, he defeated Wu Yize 9-7 in the final - resisting a stirring comeback from his young Chinese opponent - of the 2024 English Open to pick up his first ranking trophy in over 29 months.

Robertson collected a £150,000 bonus in February after coming top of the Home Nations Series order of merit; the following month in March, he pocketed £180,000 for winning the 2025 World Grand Prix in Hong Kong after whitewashing Stuart Bingham 10-0 in the final.

That triumph at the Kai Tak Arena was the 25th ranking trophy of Robertson's illustrious career. He currently sits seventh on snooker's all-time list of the most decorated ranking event winners.

The 43-year-old had no such concerns making the main draw this year, as he is ranked ninth in the world rankings and was one of the top 16 seeds who automatically went straight through to the Crucible.

Robertson on working with a sports psychologist and friend Joe Perry

Ahead of this year’s 17-day extravaganza in Sheffield, Robertson spoke with Midnite, the official UK Betting and Casino Partner of the 2025 World Snooker Championship.

Robertson explained that - having initially been doubtful - he turned to sports psychology following his decline in the rankings.

“Not qualifying last year was probably the best thing that could have happened to me because it just made me have a complete reboot." said Robertson.

“To come from the approach of ‘What do other sportspeople do?’ They’ve got sports psychologists, they’ve got good people and a team working around them.

“I met Helen Davis (sports psychologist) who has worked with Wimbledon champions, Olympic gold medallists, and straight away from the first session with her I knew I was doing the right thing.

“Sports psychology is something I always thought maybe I was too good for because I’ve always been my own sport psychologist - you are in a way when you’re out there playing snooker.

“But to have an outside influence, go into a world I’ve never been to before, it was absolutely huge. From restructuring my life day-to-day, when I’m doing my practice, my tournament preparation, all these sorts of things.”

Davis is not the only addition to Robertson’s backstage team, though. It is well-documented that good friend Joe Perry has also been in Robertson’s corner, working with him at events.

“Working closely with Joe Perry as well has been really good this season. He has had a huge impact on a couple of tournaments.” the career Triple Crown winner explained.

“I have a close friend who comes to watch as well. I have a really good support network around me so the only thing I have to worry about is snooker.”

Robertson rates this campaign as his ‘best ever season’

From not qualifying for the Crucible last year, to coming into this year's tournament as the number four ranked player on the one-year list - it has been a big turnaround in fortunes for Robertson, and it is for that reason he has labelled this as his 'best ever season'.

“Last season I always had belief, all the technical parts of my game were there, but something clearly wasn’t working."

“So having that restart, listening to new ideas, someone giving me a structure was a big leap of faith because I’ve never trusted someone like that before. So to do that has been absolutely huge.

“I never would have expected it to have the impact it has this season. It’s why I regard this season as probably my best ever season.

“At the start of the year my projected ranking by December was to be in the mid-40s so to be coming here as ninth in the world is unbelievable. I think I’m number four in the world on the one year list. Nobody would have expected me to have this type of season so I’m really proud of myself that I’ve been able to do that.”

Please visit our 2025 World Snooker Championship tournament information centre here for details on the draw, results, format and order of play.

Neil Robertson was speaking to Midnite, the official UK Betting and Casino Partner of the 2025 World Snooker Championship.

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