April 6, 2026

Shaun Murphy - Part 2 (The Blueprint — Discipline, Sacrifice, and a Champion’s Mind)

Shaun Murphy - Part 2 (The Blueprint — Discipline, Sacrifice, and a Champion’s Mind)
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In Part 2 of our five-part conversation with snooker great Shaun Murphy, the story moves from raw ability to the disciplined framework that helped shape one of the game’s true champions. This episode offers a revealing look at the system behind Shaun’s early development, as he reflects on the rigorous, highly structured approach created by his father — a man with no background in cue sports, but a remarkable instinct for preparation, accountability, and performance. Monthly goals, honest self-assessment, and a relentless focus on improvement became the foundation for Shaun’s rise.

But this chapter is about far more than training routines. Shaun speaks openly about what that life demanded of him as a young boy: the childhood experiences he missed, the social life he largely gave up, and the pressure that came with chasing excellence so young. He also shares a painful and deeply personal account of the bullying that drove him away from school, and how snooker became both his escape and his future.

There is humor and color throughout as well. Shaun tells the wonderful story of his Doc Martens sponsorship as a teenager, including the surreal experience of finding himself alongside Madonna at a London store opening. He also remembers the unforgettable characters from the snooker clubs of his youth — the hustlers, mentors, and larger-than-life personalities who helped teach him how the world worked both inside and outside the game.

Along the way, this episode explores Shaun’s early amateur success, the values his father tried to instill, his admiration for the gifted but tragic Lee Spick, and the surprising role golf played in his young sporting life. Part 2 is funny, moving, revealing, and filled with the lessons, sacrifices, and formative experiences that helped create “The Magician.”

Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text.

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Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

WEBVTT

00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:17.280
So in the early days, how did you train?

00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:19.920
You talked about doing drills, routines.

00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:23.199
Who was sort of guiding you through that?

00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:25.120
It was my dad.

00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:36.240
You know, my dad didn't come from a Q Sports background, as I said, but he came from a sales marketing background, so he knew very well about training and getting the best out of people and that kind of world.

00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:37.200
That was his world.

00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:42.399
So, you know, in fairness to him, whilst I was at school, he was reading snooker books.

00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:45.679
And then I'd get home from school, he'd go, right, son, we're going to try this tonight.

00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.000
This is what Steve Davis did in 1984.

00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:49.679
We're going to see if you can do it.

00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:51.439
Obviously, I couldn't do it.

00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:54.960
But, you know, give me a month, give me a month at it, and I'll have it.

00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:56.399
And it was that kind of thing, really.

00:00:56.479 --> 00:01:03.520
It was the basics of stance, bridge, grip, which you can, you know, you can show me how to do that, and I'll do that.

00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:06.719
And then it was a case of, right, this routine should take X.

00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:07.680
Let's see how we go.

00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:14.079
And it really was a case of just keep scaling the mountain, you know, setting a challenge, you know, by the end of the month.

00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:21.680
And my dad would literally have a piece of paper on the wall in the kitchen of this is what we're attempting this month, this is what we're doing it for.

00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:29.359
And you've got that tournament on a Sunday, the under four teams at Willythorne Snoopy Club in Leicester, and our goal for that tournament is to get to the quarterfinals.

00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:32.000
And then it would be like, Did you achieve that goal?

00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:34.000
What were the reasons you did or you didn't?

00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:35.760
And we'd re-evaluate every month.

00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:44.560
And a bit like, you know, a marketing guy would have his team and they'd have their sales review meeting at the end of every quarter with a flip chart and a whatnot.

00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:45.519
That was my life.

00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:50.719
Every month we'd sit down with the flip chart in my dad's office and review what we'd done and what we hadn't done.

00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:52.959
Now I'm 11 years of age at this stage.

00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:53.840
That's crazy.

00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:54.560
It's amazing.

00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:57.120
It's amazing that your dad was doing that with you.

00:01:57.519 --> 00:01:58.959
Totally crazy, is what it is.

00:01:59.040 --> 00:01:59.439
It's great.

00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:01.439
It's that sounds like a corporate guy.

00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:02.319
I mean, I can relate to that.

00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:03.359
I grew up in Ibn Ammons.

00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:05.519
Yeah, I can relate all that.

00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:06.319
Definitely.

00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.520
I think it's wonderful to have somebody like that pushing you.

00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:11.199
I mean, I would have loved that.

00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:19.120
It was very difficult at the time and it caused problems in our relationship, you know, in terms of becoming a snooker player.

00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:21.919
And in well, in terms of improving.

00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:24.479
It was definitely the right way to go.

00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:25.919
There's no question about that.

00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:32.879
And, you know, I've been lucky enough to sort of been asked by a couple of younger players over the few over the years to help them.

00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:37.680
And it's amazing because I go into turn into my dad for half an hour, you know.

00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:41.919
It's funny, and all these old ways come out which are buried deep in my subconscious.

00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.639
I haven't thought about that for 20 years, 30 years.

00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:47.120
And they they look at me like I've got two heads.

00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:48.560
You know, I'm not I'm not doing that.

00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:51.599
I think, well, unfortunate, that's what you've got to do, you know.

00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:55.759
And the other side of the coin though, do you feel like you missed out a little bit in childhood or not?

00:02:55.919 --> 00:02:57.840
The fact that you had these goals.

00:02:58.400 --> 00:02:58.960
Do you know what?

00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.439
I thought I've I've struggled with this for many, many years.

00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:08.479
Uh, you know, I'm I'm happy to admit and talk about, you know, I've I've been through therapy, I've had a lot of different discussions with a lot of different people.

00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:11.919
I think you can only miss what you, you know, I've d I never had it.

00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:14.560
So I don't really miss it.

00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:20.719
I don't miss, you know, those cold nights stood on a street corner with my mates from school.

00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:21.759
Yeah.

00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:23.759
A lot of whom still live in the same village.

00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:24.719
They've never left it, you know.

00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:26.800
And when I go back and visit it, they're all still there.

00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:27.360
I can take them.

00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:30.800
They'll they'll be in the pub on a Friday night where we all used to sit.

00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:32.000
They'll still be sat there.

00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:32.400
Yeah.

00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:32.800
Yeah.

00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:34.800
And there's nothing wrong with that at all.

00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.439
But that that wasn't where I wanted my life to go.

00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:40.560
No, I suppose I don't I never felt like I missed out.

00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:52.479
I certainly don't have a lot of the experiences that a lot of other people, you know, and as I say, my fiance Jo will tell me fondly of her times at university and you know, going around the world doing what she's done.

00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:56.000
I don't have any of those stories because I was in the snooker club.

00:03:56.080 --> 00:04:02.800
I was practicing I don't have any of those stories and you know, great nights out and the boys' trips away to Ibitha and all that.

00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:04.400
I don't have any of those stories.

00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:07.120
You wouldn't remember them if you did, probably.

00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:09.520
No, all my trips to Ibiza.

00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:11.759
All my stories are snooker related.

00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:12.560
Yeah.

00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:15.039
Which, you know, I wouldn't have it any other way.

00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:19.040
So your dad had all these goals and and then they became your goals.

00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:21.040
Would you do that as a father to your kids?

00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:22.399
How old are your kids now?

00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.199
Yeah, my my my children are nine and seven.

00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:33.439
I have to say, I have to say, you know, because it would be very easy to, you know, label my father as a pushy parent.

00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:39.680
These were all things we sat down and discussed me fire and my desire that pushed these things on.

00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:48.480
But it was once once we agreed on where we were going, he then said, Well, this is how we get there, son, you know, this is this is how we do it.

00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:59.279
It wasn't him pushing me to you've got to do, but it was a case, you know, if you wanna, if you do want to be a world champion, then you are gonna have to do things differently to how everyone else does things.

00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:02.240
And that was as a young man, that was quite painful.

00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:10.399
You know, I remember being, you know, while all my mates were reading comics and reading whatever they were reading, I was reading autobiographies of past sporting greats.

00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:12.480
You know, I was studying Steffi Graff.

00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.399
I remember my dad made me read her book every month.

00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:17.360
Every month.

00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:22.720
And if you thought my father was hard, goodness me, her father was, you know, it was just incredible.

00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:44.959
Very different to, you know, the life that my mates had and my friends from school had, a lot of which I'm still, despite having left school, you know, at such a young age, I'm I'm pleased to say that a lot of my friendships from school still stand, you know, I'm still great friends with a lot of people from Earthlingborough in Northamptonshire, where I grew up, although I've moved away and I moved away 20 odd years ago, I'm still in touch with a lot of them.

00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:47.759
But we had very different experiences growing up, no doubt.

00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:53.759
One of the things that really comes through, Sean, is that um you were deeply passionate about the sport.

00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:57.759
And what happens in pools so often is it's equated to money.

00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:12.959
And so people do it for impure motives, where you're after a medal or you want to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan's century when you're 10 years old, and that carried on, and and you know, wow, maybe you left school at 13, you're a bright guy, and you figured it out.

00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:22.720
And anything that you might have missed as a child has now been replaced by experiences that they'll never have because they didn't pay the price that you did.

00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:26.399
So it's uh very motivating and inspiring to listen to.

00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:30.639
Well, you know, it's it's it's a funny story to look back on, as I say.

00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:37.360
It's uh you know, I don't spend a lot of time looking in the rearview mirror, but I'm certainly as I get older I've I've been asked a few times to do a book and stuff like that.

00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:42.319
You know, it's stuff that you might I might start jotting a few stories down, you know, here or there.

00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:50.480
I mean, you know, whilst we're talking about it, you know, I didn't leave school because I was, you know, I'd learnt everything and and you know, I was I was done with it.

00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:57.519
I I left school because on the penultimate day of what we call year nine in the UK, I was left for dead in the toilets.

00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:02.639
You know, I was beaten up and left because the the kids at school, you know, kids are cruel.

00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:03.519
They're mean.

00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:04.240
They can be mean.

00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:07.519
They they didn't know how to deal with with me in their school.

00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:10.160
I was always being dragged up the front by the head teacher.

00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:11.519
And it's a thing in the UK.

00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:15.680
I don't know if it's the same in the States, but it's the same in in the UK if you're an achiever.

00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:19.360
But bring your trophy in at bring your trophy in, let's celebrate.

00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:24.480
We'll have you out at, you know, uh in front of the whole clas in front of the whole school and we'll celebrate.

00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:30.879
Sure, when you get to play when you get to break time, you know, all the kids are waiting for you around the corner and they give you a good hiding, you know.

00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:32.560
And it was horrible.

00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:40.720
And this happened all the time through junior school, high school, whatever you want to call it, and it got to the penultimate day of year nine.

00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:44.959
This would have been what was this, 1995 or something like that.

00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:50.000
And my old geography teacher, she was called Mrs.

00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:54.879
Heathfield, she was like a stand-in geography teacher, came looking for me and found me in the toilet.

00:07:54.959 --> 00:08:00.560
I'd been beaten by six or seven of these men, these lads, sorry, they weren't men.

00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:01.839
And there were six of them.

00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:03.600
So it was it was unfair.

00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:10.560
And she took me home, and I'll never forget, she took me home there, and then she sat me down in front of my mum and dad in the kitchen at the kitchen table.

00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:14.399
And amongst other things, she said, Don't ever send Sean back to this school.

00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:15.680
That's how it's whatever you do.

00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:17.360
She said, They will kill him.

00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:18.319
They will kill him.

00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:19.920
Don't send him back.

00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:21.199
And I never went back.

00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:22.879
Unbelievable.

00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:24.639
Wow.

00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:26.480
It's cruel, isn't it?

00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:27.199
Some kids.

00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:27.839
Unbelievable.

00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:28.480
Yeah, cruel.

00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:29.519
But I you know, I get it.

00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:32.000
And and you know, I you see it all the time.

00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:35.279
It's it's but it wasn't really they didn't know it, they weren't, they didn't know.

00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:37.600
It's uh kids are kids.

00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:43.840
But again, Mark, you know, you touched on it, you know it that I think that and as I say, I I never played for money and I still don't play for money.

00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.240
I think because I when I grew up we had no money.

00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:48.960
Money wasn't money wasn't an idol in our house.

00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:50.960
It wasn't a thing because we didn't have any of it.

00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:51.279
Yeah.

00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.960
So it wasn't geez, we desperately needed it.

00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:56.879
Because we always desperately needed it.

00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:57.919
But it wasn't a thing.

00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:04.320
It wasn't wasn't commodity, because it it you know, as long as we had enough to pay the rent, it was everything was okay.

00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:05.039
Yeah.

00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:10.960
Well Mark, you you were gonna say Efren Reyes is very much the same way.

00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:11.919
Yeah.

00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:17.759
He came from desperation to get by, but having money was not a goal.

00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:24.320
And he's been offered many times to have a mansion here that will be paid for in the United States, but he lives in Angeles City, Philippines.

00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:28.000
He's not leaving his friends, families, cousins, brothers.

00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:33.759
And so oftentimes when he wins money, he gives it away to his cousins.

00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:41.120
Well, listen, I mean, if anyone wants to offer me a mansion in the States and we would come over, if there's a budding snooker team over there that wants some coaching, I'll be able to do that.

00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:42.159
Oh, there you go.

00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:43.440
That's his thoughts on that.

00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:44.559
I love that.

00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:46.320
So so tell us about this.

00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:48.159
This is one I was curious about.

00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:49.120
Your Dr.

00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.759
Martin's sponsorship at 13.

00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:54.879
How how does that happen?

00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:56.559
Especially Dr.

00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:58.559
Martin's knowing how you dress.

00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:00.879
I know, I know, I know.

00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:06.399
Well it's a f amazing story, really, of coincidence.

00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:23.840
So go right back to the start, we like to say we lost everything as a family, we had to move out of our lovely home, we were evicted by the bank, and we had to find this little rental house, which was owned by uh the local family who owned a Ford dealership in the village.

00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:35.759
They were local, you know, movers and shakers, they were local business people involved in the little community, and in the in the local business community was a guy called Max Griggs who owned Doc Martins.

00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:37.200
Owned the lot.

00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:38.159
It was his business.

00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:45.919
And it turned out that he had a lot of pride in helping local budding sports teams, individuals, whatever.

00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:47.919
He sponsored the local basketball team.

00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.879
I mean, who knew there was a basketball team in Northampton?

00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:51.919
Who knew that?

00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:53.360
I didn't know that.

00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:59.919
And one of the and one of the things he he he wanted to help, one of the things he wanted to do was help me.

00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:09.440
And this family, the Reddings, Jeff, the father, and Paul and Andy, the sons, who ran the business after him, they introduced us to the Griggs family.

00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:18.799
And my dad went into full corporate mode and pitched him, pitched in the deal, got his pinstripe suit out, you know, dusted it off, flipped, his old manuals out.

00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:20.320
Right, this is how we do a deal, son.

00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:21.600
Watch this, bosh.

00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:24.000
And did the deal.

00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:26.960
And somehow we had we came out, I think I was 12.

00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:34.879
Max Griggs said, we're gonna sponsor you until you turn pro and we're gonna pay for everything that's snooker related.

00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:39.039
We're gonna take that pressure off you as a family financially for snooker.

00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:40.559
Oh, that's fantastic.

00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:44.960
And when you turn pro, we'll feel like we've done our bit and you'll never hear from us again.

00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:46.399
Get in.

00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:56.240
And they and they did everything they said that Max, when I turned pro and went on to do what I did, and they never they never wanted anything.

00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:01.679
Whenever I used to write to them and invite them to come to events, come as my guests, be lovely to see you.

00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:05.840
He was very happy to sit it out and say, We we loved helping you.

00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:11.039
You're very close to us, we're very fond, but we don't really like the limelight, we don't want any plaudits.

00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:13.519
We were very happy helping and good luck.

00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:14.960
Like they never asked for a thing back.

00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:16.159
Fantastic.

00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:17.759
Just what you needed, too.

00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:18.320
Yeah.

00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:29.679
Funniest thing of that whole period of time was around the mid-90s when this would have happened, they would have started sponsoring me in like 94, 95, somewhere around then.

00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:37.360
Around that time, they opened one of the world's largest flagship stores in London's Covent Garden.

00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:41.039
And it was like the reboot of Doc Martin's, no pun intended.

00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:45.840
They were like, this is Doc Martin's 2.0, we're gonna go big style round the world.

00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:50.080
And they had Madonna come and open the store.

00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:50.799
Whoa.

00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:52.720
Me.

00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:55.440
And you thought, no way.

00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:01.519
And I remember standing there with Madonna, and she's looking at me, and I'm looking at her.

00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:04.639
We've got absolutely nothing in common.

00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:05.360
Yeah.

00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.799
And I can remember her looking at me as if to say, Who are you?

00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:10.399
Like, why are you here?

00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:11.600
Why is this child here?

00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:12.720
It's incredible.

00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:17.759
And the owner, Max, bless him, he's no longer with us, was like pushing me to the front.

00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:21.519
No, he's stopping all the other photographers outside Covent Garden.

00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:23.120
No, we've got to have Sean at the front.

00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.679
Sean, go yeah, you'll have to stand back, Madonna.

00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:27.039
Sean, Sean, you're the boy.

00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:27.759
You stand at the front.

00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:29.840
I'm like, this is funny.

00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:30.480
This is weird.

00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:31.279
Brilliant.

00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:32.320
Yeah, funny.

00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:34.080
That's a great story.

00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:35.759
Push Madonna aside.

00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:36.879
Who is she anyway?

00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:37.600
Yeah, really.

00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:39.759
I think she was good in her day.

00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:40.080
Yeah.

00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:41.120
Yeah, exactly.

00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:45.039
Let's let's go back uh to early experiences in some of those snooker halls.

00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.679
If you're like most boys, you were impressionable.

00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:51.759
And I grew up, you know, like at a little municipal golf course.

00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:55.759
I just remember all the characters that influenced me in some way.

00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:01.919
You must have memories of some of the characters that populated some of those early snooker halls that you you hung out in.

00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:06.320
Well, yeah, and of course, now as a grown man, I've learned that we use the word characters.

00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:08.159
What we actually mean is villains.

00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:09.440
Okay, villains.

00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:14.639
There's a reason there's a reason why all the gangster movies are set in snooker clubs and pool halls.

00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:16.159
Like pool, yeah.

00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:18.080
Yeah, there's a reason for that.

00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:21.200
No, I mean, listener, there were some big influences.

00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:27.200
I mean, Alison, you'll remember coming to Rawls yourself, the Q Sports Club, when the World Ladies was played there a few times.

00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:34.080
That's where we first met, and you know, the characters in that club were just yeah, you you know, you could get anything in this club.

00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:39.360
I mean, it was in this little, you know, backwater, sleepy little village that, you know, no one's ever heard of.

00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:42.879
But if you needed something, you'd speak to John at the bar and you'd get it.

00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:44.799
Within seven days, it'd be there.

00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:53.759
Yeah, there were some wheeler dealer types and but uh but you know, outside of an education at school, that's where I that's where I learnt how the world works.

00:14:53.840 --> 00:15:10.799
And you learn that, you know, I I perhaps might not have the greatest grasp of history or other things you learn in school, but you learn how the world works, and you learn how money works, and you learn about playing for money and doing things, you know, money you haven't got.

00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:13.519
You learn about yourself and as I say, making it work.

00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:17.679
And a lot of those people I knew from those days, they're still in my phone book today.

00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:25.120
They're still they still come to tournaments, they still come and watch me, they still cheer, they still criticize when it goes wrong.

00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:35.039
And do you know the funny thing is all these grown men who they did know Snooker better than me when I was a child, they still think they know the game better than me.

00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:35.440
Oh, yeah.

00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:36.480
It's quite funny.

00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:41.200
And we were at Little Championships last year at the Crucible, and I lost my match.

00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:52.000
We went out for lunch, uh, there was a bot a couple of bottles of wine, and one of the guys, John, funnily, his name is John, he was a deep family friend of ours, but I met him in the Snoopy Club.

00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:58.639
And he used to be a bit of a hustler, he used to play for money, and I learned a few things from him, and this, that, and the other.

00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:13.039
He started telling me about in that frame there, frame 12, maybe you should have put the brown safe, and you perhaps should have done this, and maybe and I put my glass of wine down and I said, John, are we really having this conversation?

00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:14.639
Is this is this happening?

00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:18.720
And he's and he looked at me and he went, Yeah, you're right, this is ridiculous.

00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:19.279
Poor the one.

00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:20.080
That's funny.

00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:20.799
That's what you did.

00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:25.759
Let's uh let's go back to your early amateur career then uh before you turned professional.

00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:27.759
Uh what was your most memorable win?

00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:31.279
Would it have been that first UK under-15 championship you won?

00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:33.120
Uh yeah, I guess so.

00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:36.159
I mean, I I the UK under-15s was was a big deal.

00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:41.360
That was our sort of that was the biggest junior competition in the UK at the time.

00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:43.440
So that was a that was a massive deal.

00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:45.360
You know, that was a that was a big thing.

00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.879
That was an event I went on to win three years consecutively, actually.

00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:51.440
So that was a that was a that was a big thing.

00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:59.840
I remember getting awarded the captaincy of England uh of the adult team as a kid, which was a that was a big deal.

00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:08.960
The English Association for Snooker and Billiards back in the day gave me the grown-up, the men's captaincy as a junior player, which was huge.

00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:11.039
May I ask who was on the team?

00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:13.279
Just out of curiosity, if you remember.

00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:15.200
Who was on the team?

00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:16.799
Michael Gold.

00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:18.240
I remember Michael Gold.

00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:19.200
Do you remember that name?

00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:20.160
Michael Gold.

00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:27.119
I think there was another Michael from the Northeast, whose name escapes me at the moment.

00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:32.480
And there was another junior player on the team as well, uh, from Mansfield, called Lee Spick.

00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:34.400
Yeah, I remember that name.

00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:37.759
Lee passed away 11 years ago, I think.

00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:39.680
He ended up in a bad way, yeah.

00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:41.599
But he and I would have been of a similar age.

00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.799
So for us to both be on the men's team was a big deal.

00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:48.160
And Mark Selby.

00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:51.920
Mark Selby was on the team as well.

00:17:52.079 --> 00:18:00.640
Of course, we grew up as kids playing, we've known each other since we were nine years of age, so we've we've been knocking hell out of each other uh for many, many years.

00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:07.440
But that that playing for England was a big deal because whilst I was given the captaincy, I still never played for England.

00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:15.680
And the story goes that we went to Pontins, a holiday camp in North Wales, where the home internationals were being played.

00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:16.720
Prestatin.

00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:18.000
Prestatin.

00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:18.559
Yeah.

00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:24.640
That's the one, and we got there, and the manager of the team came over to us, stood in reception.

00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:29.279
The manager of the team, by coincidence, was Willie Thorne's brother, Malcolm.

00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:34.960
And he came over to us, and and he and my father had a prickly relationship at best.

00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:39.039
Because my dad was a bit vocal from the sidelines when I would play, you know, he could get involved.

00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:44.079
Malcolm came over a bit tentatively, said, uh bit of a problem here, Tony, to my dad.

00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:47.440
He said, uh, as you can see, Prestatin's very busy.

00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:52.079
There was a massive netball event going on at the same time, and they'd overbook the rooms.

00:18:52.319 --> 00:19:08.880
He said, So the only way this is gonna work is if you as a family, this is this is my mother and father and I share a one-bedroom chalet with the Selby family, which was Mark, his brother and his father.

00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:10.000
How does that work?

00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:10.640
Yeah.

00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:12.720
Doesn't work, does he?

00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:14.000
Six doesn't go into one.

00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:15.200
Generally not, no.

00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:24.640
So my father, my father stood there as cold as you like and said to Malcolm, Well, we're obviously not gonna do that, Malcolm, but I'm gonna give you an hour to fix the problem.

00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:32.400
And Malcolm turned around and said, Not even you, Tony, would take away the opportunity for your son to play for England.

00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:34.400
Not even you would deny him that.

00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:39.519
And my my father looked at his watch and said, 58 minutes now, Malcolm.

00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:40.559
Good for him.

00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:41.759
Wow.

00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:44.319
Anyway, 58 minutes came and went.

00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:51.440
Coffees were had, burgers were eaten, went back to reception, there was no room available.

00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:53.359
We got back in the car and drove home.

00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:53.920
It was true.

00:19:54.160 --> 00:20:00.000
And it was and I remember I remember my father was like, We're not staying, we're not being treated like this, we're off.

00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.880
Now, if it was up to me, I'd have slept in the car to play for England.

00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:03.519
Sure, yeah.

00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:03.839
Yeah.

00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:06.000
I would have would have slept on the street.

00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:19.839
And I remember uh there was a very unfavourable article written about all this in the Pop Black magazine or the Snooker scene magazine of the time, whatever it was called then, about you know, my dad kicking off and all of that.

00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:22.880
But yeah, that was that was unpleasant.

00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:27.839
I remember the Pontins days, and I remember where you're talking about the arena in the middle there.

00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:31.279
And if you won the tournament, you'd get a free invite back, wouldn't you?

00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:34.160
You'd get a coupon to go back the following year.

00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:36.880
Which we were the same as you guys, probably.

00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:39.519
We're grateful, because now it covers the costs, right?

00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:40.640
Yeah, totally, yeah.

00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:41.119
Totally.

00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:43.759
Used to get paid in Pontins pounds.

00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:44.079
Yep.

00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.119
Which you you had to spend on site.

00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:49.440
Yeah.

00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:51.920
Yeah, what's the conversion rate of those now?

00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:52.880
Very little.

00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:53.839
It's very little.

00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:57.440
Well, it's great to hear that your father, Tony, was a man of principle.

00:20:57.759 --> 00:20:58.000
Yeah.

00:20:58.240 --> 00:20:59.200
Well, he was certainly that.

00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:02.000
He was he he was certainly principled, no question.

00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:05.839
Probably upset you at the time, but you understood it later on, maybe.

00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:15.359
Yeah, I did understand it, but as I say, I mean, I look back at that, you know, to be given the captaincy of the senior team and to to not be able to say, oh, I played for England, you know, was a was a great shame.

00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:17.359
I did play for the junior team prior to that.

00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:27.039
And then of course, you know, my dad in his in his commercial way, he set up his own England v Scotland game with the with the father of some Scottish players, you know, not to be outdone.

00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:27.359
Yeah.

00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:31.839
He just went, Well, I'm gonna go round the national body, I'm gonna we're gonna set our own one up.

00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:36.559
Which we did, and we did a home and away, an eight-man, eight, eight-boy team, I should say.

00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:41.279
Eight kid team from England v Scotland went up to Scotland and they came down to us.

00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:44.319
Yeah, so it was a very much a Murphy trait.

00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:49.279
It was very, very much a Murphy family trait, you know, of if you put an obstacle up, we're gonna go around it, you know.

00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:53.039
And I suppose to some to some degree, that was instilled in me.

00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:53.839
Interesting.

00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:59.839
Yeah, you mentioned Lee Spick, he was the the lad that you would have defeated, I think, in your first under 50 UK championship.

00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.039
Championship.

00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:04.720
He and I were great friends, and you know, as I say, a bit like Mark Selby.

00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:08.000
You know, Lee was a bit old, maybe two or three years older, I think.

00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:15.359
Lee's the person you when I get asked, and I do, you know, in all my shows, exhibitions, interviews, whatever, they say who's the best player you ever saw?

00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:16.640
Slee Spick.

00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:18.400
He was the best player I ever saw.

00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:19.039
Isn't that right?

00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:21.359
He was the best player I ever saw in the flesh.

00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:22.720
That's amazing.

00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:27.920
He could have and should have gone on to become a household name, a world champion.

00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:31.359
The most gifted, the most gifted snooker player I've ever seen.

00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:32.079
And so what happened?

00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:33.119
Incredible.

00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:35.039
Why did that not happen?

00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:40.079
I mean, from what I could see, I didn't I didn't know they're set up that well.

00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:43.440
I stayed with him a few times and he used to come and stay with us and and whatnot.

00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:59.119
But think I think the first thing I think about is that all the things that I found difficult and hard about my upbringing with my father and the way my father was and all of the things he instilled into me, whilst they were very difficult to accept, they they were right and they did work.

00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:06.799
And maybe the things that Lee was being shown, and maybe the people he had around him at the time, maybe he wasn't as lucky.

00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:08.240
You know, I I was very lucky.

00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:20.240
The people I had around me from Big John in the Snooker Club, who later went on to become a you know, he worked for us to my dad, to sponsors, to Max Griggs, to all of those people helping us, Mark Wildman as well.

00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:21.599
I was very, very lucky.

00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:23.920
I had so many good people in my corner.

00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:35.839
Lee didn't have those people in his corner, and and and you know, he had so much more talent than anyone I've ever seen, and I include Yoronio Sullivan's and, you know, Zhao Zintong's and all those people in that.

00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:40.160
Lee Spick was the most talented snooker player I've I've ever seen.

00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:46.319
When he walked into a tournament as a junior player at Waifi, walked in the room, we were all playing for second place.

00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:51.279
And just when he turned professional, I think the stresses and strains of professional sport got the better of him.

00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:53.519
I think he had a bit of an issue with drink.

00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:56.240
I I think he used to sort of console himself with a drink.

00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:57.839
You know, life's tough, isn't it?

00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:59.359
Life got the better of him in the end.

00:23:59.440 --> 00:23:59.599
Yeah.

00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:02.480
Well, we are all products of our circumstance, aren't we?

00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:04.640
Yeah, definitely.

00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:11.119
And as I say, I you know, I think you you take it with a pinch of salt when people say, Oh, you're lucky to have the life you have.

00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:14.000
Like, I I don't remember there being much luck involved in it.

00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:14.799
Yeah.

00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:17.519
A lot of work I've worked hard.

00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:27.200
But I think the people you're, you know, the people you're around and the people who are in your circle, you know, they're not people they're not necessarily people you choose.

00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:36.799
And I was very lucky as a kid, as a young person, I had some exceptional people around me who they knew they knew right from wrong.

00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:37.279
Yeah.

00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:38.799
And I was very lucky with that.

00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:41.759
I think that's one thing too, we fret about as parents, don't we?

00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:49.279
Because we really it's really difficult for us to control the friends our kids choose to hang with and be influenced by.

00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:52.400
My dad used to say, you become like the people you spend your time with.

00:24:52.799 --> 00:25:03.680
And uh when I was getting ready to go out on a night out with my friends, you know, before I could drive or after I drove could drive, or when I got my license and he perhaps felt I should have been practicing, you know, my dad wasn't backwards in coming forwards.

00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:07.920
He would say, Do you think, do you think Stephen Hendry's going out tonight with his friends?

00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:17.759
Or do you think he do you think he's practicing or you know, and you know, nine times out of ten, I would say, Yeah, well, you know, he can do what he wants, but I'm going out.

00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:18.559
Yeah.

00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:20.000
That's being a kid.

00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:25.279
Perhaps that's why I've only won one world championship and Stephen won seven, you know, it may be.

00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:28.319
But yeah, no, my father wasn't backwards in coming forwards.

00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:37.200
And, you know, we used to have all of these things dotted around the house, all of these little slogans, these little like sales things that he would have come from his days.

00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:39.759
And I suppose a lot of them went in, you know.

00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:41.599
A lot of them, a lot of them went in.

00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:51.200
And if my my children picked up a sport or something they were passionate about, could I could I hold my hand up and say I wouldn't say some of those things?

00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:53.039
I probably couldn't.

00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:53.680
Yeah.

00:25:53.920 --> 00:26:02.160
You know, you know what works for you it you you know, if you want different results from everyone else, you have to do things differently than everyone else.

00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:03.039
Yeah, yeah.

00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:04.559
And it was painful at the time.

00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:06.160
It was painful, but you know.

00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:07.599
It worked though.

00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:10.720
One thing we didn't talk about was uh other sports in your life.

00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:14.480
Were there other sports competing for your time when you were trying to pick up snooker as well?

00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:16.160
Well, not when I took it up.

00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:30.000
Um I I I I was introduced to golf, I think around being sort of 14, 15, you know, by which time I was already well, I turned pro at snooker at 15, so I was already a professional snooker player.

00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:40.640
But I remember once I got my driving license in sort of what would that have been, 1999, something like that, as a 17-year-old, just before I was 18.

00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:46.640
And once I got my independence and didn't have to get a lift to the snooker club from my dad, golf became a bit of a problem.

00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:54.079
But anyone who's anyone who's listening to this who's played golf and has hit that ball out of the middle of the club once knows how addictive it can be.

00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:55.759
And this very, very funny story.

00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:58.240
I mean, there was dozens of stories like this.

00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:01.119
You know, I I wasn't a saint by any stretch.

00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:10.319
But like mobile phones had just started to become a thing, and I I am I remember having one and it was very basic, and I hadn't stored this number in.

00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:17.119
So this I'm out with my mate, we were we were golfing, and we'd started the day at the snooker club.

00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:21.119
He used to come in the snooker club and pick the balls out and whatnot.

00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:28.160
And uh we were in the snooker club about an hour, and it was a glorious day outside, and he said, I said, should we go golfing?

00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:29.279
What why are we inside?

00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:30.880
Should we should we go and play golf?

00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:36.880
And we kind of encouraged each other to get out of the snooker club and off we went to the golf course and we were there all day.

00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:37.680
It was fantastic.

00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:38.640
What a day we had.

00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:42.799
Mobile phone went off, which was you know, there was only about four people had my number.

00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:44.000
I it was so new.

00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:48.640
Didn't recognise the number, answered the phone, hello, it was my dad.

00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:50.319
He said, Hey son, how are you doing?

00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:52.319
Yeah, you're okay, yeah, just checking in on you.

00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:54.240
Yeah, no, good, Julia, good, good, good.

00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:55.279
How's practice going?

00:27:55.519 --> 00:27:56.640
Yeah, it's going really well.

00:27:56.799 --> 00:27:57.519
It's going really well.

00:27:57.759 --> 00:27:59.839
You're working on those long reds like I told you to.

00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:02.720
Yeah, those long pots, yeah, oh, they're fantastic.

00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:06.640
He said, It it's just that I'm in the snooker club.

00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:10.000
And you're not.

00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:13.200
And there were there were plenty of moments like that.

00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:16.799
Golf was really the only thing that that ever threatened it, I think.

00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:26.400
You know, I wasn't I wasn't a big go-out, I wasn't big into going out, you know, I wasn't a I wasn't a drinker, I've never smoked in my life, never really been into anything like that.

00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:31.200
There were never really any genuine threats to snooker.

00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:33.440
But golf almost got me.

00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:41.119
And whilst, you know, in that period of my life, as I say, I got my driver's licence, I became fully independent, my golf game started to improve.

00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:44.240
I got my name on the board at Wellingborough Golf Club a few times.

00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:47.920
I got the trophy, which a couple of times, which as we know it was all about.

00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:51.759
But my snooker career started to nosedive at pace.

00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:56.559
So the golf, the golf had to take a bit of a back seat for a while.

00:28:57.039 --> 00:28:58.480
No other sports?

00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:00.799
Did you play football or anything?

00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:01.680
Um not really.

00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:03.680
No, I used to watch a lot of football.

00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:09.200
No, I used to watch a lot of it, uh, you know, with my old manager uh who's no longer here anymore, Brandon Parker.

00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:14.559
We used to go there a lot when we could, but yeah, no, it was never never a distraction to Snooker.

00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:23.680
I've always been very I've always found myself very fortunate that that that the sort of burning passion and love for snooker that I had as a kid, I still have today.

00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:28.559
And I, you know, there's very little in the world I'd rather be doing than playing snooker.

00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:32.000
I still take, you know, Joe will say, How long are you gonna be in the snooker room for?

00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:33.599
I'm like, I don't know.

00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:45.200
You know, I'm gonna take myself off, I've got my queue, and I've been thinking of something over breakfast, you know, I want to try something, I'm gonna go in there and just just fiddle with it, you know, just try something.

00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:53.039
And like I'm 43 years of age now, I I'm still madly in love with the game and still got a long way to go, you know.

00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:55.759
That's incredible how you keep motivated.

00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:06.480
I mean, as much as you play tournaments, which I I'm not even sure how many tournaments you have a year, I know you're away a lot, that you keep motivated to keep practicing.

00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:09.119
How many hours would you say you do a day at home?

00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:12.799
Yeah, I d I do less now than I've probably ever done in my life.

00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:16.240
I do have other commitments, you know, I do have other things in my life.

00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:21.680
I think as for you know, certainly at my age, it's hard to be absolutely laser focused on one thing.

00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:30.079
You know, I have children for one thing, whilst they might live in a different country, you know, they're still there and I, you know, I'm I'm still in touch with them and involved with them as much as I possibly can be.

00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:37.039
We travel all over the place, that needs doing on, you know, agents and managers and all this stuff and other other things.

00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:44.400
But I mean, I would say I usually try and spend my mornings doing my business work and my other other stuff.

00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:51.039
And then in the afternoons, certainly from once the once the clock goes past midday, I'm in the snooker room then in four, five, six hours.

00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:54.000
Anything to get out of walking the dog, to be totally honest.

00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:55.599
Especially in the rain.

00:30:55.839 --> 00:30:56.960
Especially in the rain, yeah.

00:30:57.039 --> 00:31:00.400
I I was out this morning with the dog and it was pouring down.

00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:05.680
But yeah, no, I tend to do that in the mornings and get in the snooker room, and I could be in there, you know.

00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:10.640
Listen, if you feel your game's going well and there's not much to work on, sometimes playing too much can be a bad thing.

00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:18.240
Sometimes you can start looking for problems and finding things that, you know, you start taking the engine apart, you think, well, I really should have left this alone, you know.

00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:27.759
I mean, when I was before, but I tend to do probably three hours in the afternoon most days, which as a kid I would have said, well, that that's not worth doing, that's nothing.

00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:34.880
But, you know, at this stage of life, three, a minimum three to four, maybe five hours, something like that.

00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:36.319
I think that's enough for me.

00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:39.839
During that time, are you playing games or are you setting up shots?

00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:42.160
Are you doing drills just out of curiosity?

00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:46.240
It's a lot of drills, it's a lot of the old-fashioned, good old-fashioned drills, Alison.

00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:56.400
You know, of trying to reinvent the line-ups, T's, X's, all of that stuff, you know, stuff we did as kids, you know, just not trying to reinvent the wheel.

00:31:56.640 --> 00:31:57.200
Yeah.

00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:02.079
You know, if it was good enough for you, good enough for Steve, Steven, Ronnie, it's good enough for me.

00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:08.480
I do a lot of frames against myself, you know, practice situations against myself where I try and play both roles of both players.

00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:15.920
And then I, you know, I going back to what we touched on earlier on, the resources we've got now, all my matches tend to be on YouTube somewhere.

00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:28.559
So I often go through and, you know, certainly matches that I've lost, you know, sift through the wreckage of a defeat and try and work out where it went wrong, and then take it to the table and go, right, you know, let's set that up.

00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:30.240
You know, could I have done something different there?

00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:31.119
Was that a mental error?

00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:32.160
Was it a technical error?

00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:34.079
What were you know what led to that?

00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:39.039
One of my biggest bugbears in Snooker is where you get players say, Well, I, you know, I didn't do anything wrong.

00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:41.279
I didn't do anything wrong.

00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:43.599
Well, you must have done something wrong.

00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:47.759
So that's 10 shots.

00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:48.480
Yeah.

00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:51.039
Well, in that situation, I'm not sure.

00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:52.640
Maybe showing up was wrong.

00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:59.920
Yeah, well, every now and every now and again that you I think you get to say that, but uh it's it's once in a blue moon.

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.160
But yeah, you'll often find me in my snooker room sifting through a match, you know, going, right, what happened here?

00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:08.000
How did I lose this match from a a winning position, a commanding position?

00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:11.359
And I think from what I can gather from a lot of players, a lot of players don't do that.

00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:13.200
I don't know why they don't do it.

00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:17.519
Um, because it's it's a resource that's just there, it's free, it's there for you.

00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:22.559
Watch these games, watch other past, you know, watch the great at it, watch the best at it.

00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:23.680
What did they do?

00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:26.640
And you know, what can I do differently?

00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:31.039
Thank you for listening to another episode of Legends of the Cube.

00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:40.559
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00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:44.640
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00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:48.400
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00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:51.920
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