McManusFan wrote:Anyone else watch the Hendry's interview with him? It was pretty good. Shaun does have a bit of a point about Ronnie not getting any stick for it, but as far as I know Ronnie has never commented and played in the same day. But if it works for him, good on him.
It is a bit of a double standard. It often isn't the done thing to criticise Ronnie, because he's Ronnie.
Having said that, Ronnie is in a different stage of his career, at the moment. Though only six years older than Murphy, he's a seven time World Champion, seven time Masters Champion, seven time UK Champion, more ranking events than anybody else. If he is moving into other phases of his career, and prioritising punditry work for some of the events, than that's kind of his right.
It's Murphy's right as well, of course. If he is happy with his haul of ranking events, and thinks; "I'm 40, I can move on to other things whilst still playing", then it is his decision. So maybe, who are we to criticise? It's his decision to make, not ours.
I think what it is, mainly, that most people expect that you move into commentary and punditry when your best years are behind you. That's why Murphy gets the criticism. Doherty, for example, still plays, but he's not realistically going to be winning tournaments. He barely qualifies any more, let alone win. It's not like he was commentating shortly before playing in the 1997 Crucible Final.
Ronnie feels like an exception, because he seems to be able to do the punditry work, and still win big tournaments. But it's worth remembering that, even if it does affect his trophy haul, it really doesn't matter. Ronnie's status is already secured, and he has nothing to prove. I am not sure that's the case with Murphy. It feels like he has to win at least one more World Championship. I think people feel that should be a priority first. Even if it his up to him ultimately.