The solid rise in Tabcorp shares after the company announced the retirement of chief executive David Attenborough and chairman Paula Dwyer on Thursday isn’t about what they did, but what they didn’t do.

Dwyer and Attenborough showed tenacity, persistence and grit in pulling off the company’s 2017 merger with Tatts Group. In dragging the deal over the line, they took control of a monopoly lotteries business that they then turned into the group’s shining star.