"Once the Premier League had finished that was it for me; it was gone. I couldn't care less about what happened and I got on with the rest of the year"
Friday 23 March 2018 21:30, UK
The Premier League is widely regarded as the pinnacle for players aspiring to achieve superstar status in the darting world; the golden ticket for those fortunate enough to be included. However, the gruelling nature of the competition can also destroy careers, says Wayne Mardle.
The Premier League Darts roadshow is unique in terms of its relentlessness. The World Championship lasts for between two to three weeks, while other major events such as the World Matchplay, Grand Slam and the World Grand Prix run for little over seven days.
Nevertheless, for those who avoid elimination on Judgement Night, the Premier League consists of 15 gruelling weeks travelling across the UK and Europe, and Mardle claims it can be very difficult for players to reverse their struggles midway through the tournament.
"The problem with the Premier League is that it goes on for so long, so if you are in a bit of a rut, you can't seem to get out of it until it ends," Mardle told Sky Sports. "What happens on a Thursday is that you say to yourself: 'Right, I had a bad defeat this Thursday, I'm going to forget about it. It's only week one, I'm not going to go on about it and just turn up for week two and everything will be fine'.
"Then you get sent the table, then you get told that you've got Michael van Gerwen this week, Gary Anderson next week and you start to think to yourself: 'Right, I've lost last week and I've now got Michael van Gerwen and then Gary Anderson. It's looking like after three weeks I'm odds on to be on nil points.
"After that second week when you get beaten, there's a tournament at the weekend and of course your confidence is a bit shot, so you need performances that are going to inspire you rather than put you on a downer and the only way to do that in darts is to get results and it's hard to get results," the Sky Sports pundit added.
Premier League veterans Raymond van Barneveld and Gary Anderson are the most high-profile stars to have skipped Pro Tour and European Tour events this year in a bid to manage their hectic schedules, but Mardle claims that it can be equally as draining psychologically.
"It really does infringe on every aspect of your tournament play," Hawaii 501 said. "Even when you're travelling, you're trying to do it right for the following Wednesday, because the guys have to be there on a Wednesday now.
"It really does consume the whole week so you're always thinking about it. When you're in a positive frame of mind, reverse all of that. You want to play, you don't care who you play, you win at the weekend, you walk into the Premier League and the world's a great place.
"I played in it four times in five years and I was lucky because I was mentally strong enough to not worry about it once it had finished. Once the Premier League had finished that was it for me; it was gone. I couldn't care less about what happened and I got on with the rest of the year."
It's absolutely killed some players - it's destroyed their confidence. Wes Newton and Mark Webster spring to mind.
The Premier League is invariably a tournament that can make or break careers. For some it provides the platform for future success, giving them confidence that they can compete with the world's best, but for others it has proven extremely detrimental.
Mardle admitted: "It's absolutely killed some players - it's destroyed their confidence. Wes Newton and Mark Webster spring to mind. They were good players coming into Premier Leagues and within a season or so it destroyed them because as I've already alluded to, you start losing and you start doubting yourself and it's one of those sports that is technique and instinct.
"If your technique isn't right and then you become just that little bit tentative which makes you less instinctive, you begin to struggle and it becomes a real chore. You start panicking and that has to stop. You have to get that out of the mind and just throw in a free-of-thought manner."
This year's Premier League field has seen the biggest shake-up since the tournament's inception in 2005, with only four of last year's representatives returning.
The 10-man line-up featured four debutants and although world champion Rob Cross has registered four successive wins to surge into the play-off places, the other three newcomers are all situated in the bottom four. Mardle admits he's always concerned about how the new faces will fare.
"I am always concerned by how it's going to work out for them [debutants]. I think the PDC were right not putting Dimitri van den Bergh in yet, even though he was playing some fantastic darts. He's at such a young point in his career that it could have potentially destroyed him.
"When you're not winning in the Premier League, you hear little whispers about yourself. 'He's not good enough' or 'he's going to get relegated', 'they should have put so and so in front of him'. This all knocks the confidence. We are all pretty thin-skinned really."
Wayne Mardle was speaking to Sky Sports' Raz Mirza. The 2018 Premier League heads to the SSE Arena in Belfast next Thursday, with coverage underway from 7pm on Sky Sports Action & from 9.45pm on Sky Sports Main Event. Seven weeks of tungsten action will then continue through to the season's conclusion with the Play-Offs on May 17 at The O2 in London.
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