“He’s too good not to” – Rob Cross adamant Josh Rock will bounce back from nightmare Premier League Darts debut

Rob Cross believes the relentless atmosphere, short format and missed doubles combined to derail Josh Rock’s first Premier League Darts campaign, but has no doubts over the Northern Irishman’s ability to respond.

Rock entered the competition after a breakthrough 2025 in which he won the World Cup of Darts alongside Daryl Gurney and reached the semi-finals of both the UK Open and World Matchplay. His Premier League debut proved considerably more difficult, however, as seven consecutive defeats left him stranded at the bottom of the table.

“If I’m being totally honest about Josh, he’s an incredible darts player,” Cross told Oche180. “He’s very talented and a big, big scorer. Sometimes his doubles let him down, and he knows that. He gets chances and squanders a few, but all players do that at certain times.”

Rock eventually recorded his first victory against Jonny Clayton on Night Eight in Berlin, dropping to his knees in celebration after winning 6-3. He collected only eight points across the full campaign, winning four of his 18 matches and finishing eighth without reaching a nightly final.

Cross believes Rock discovered that success across the wider PDC circuit could not fully prepare him for the weekly intensity of the Premier League.

“The massive difference this year is that he showed his minerals last year with what he achieved, reaching semi-final after semi-final,” he said. “Then he came into the Premier League and maybe expected it to be like a normal European Tour event, but those Premier League nights aren’t the same. They’re totally different. They’re probably three times louder and you can actually feel the stage vibrating.”

Rock still produced one of the defining moments of the league phase when he hit a nine-darter in front of his home crowd in Belfast. It came while he was trailing Gian van Veen, though, and the Dutchman went on to win their quarter-final 6-2.

Rock averaged 94.33 across the campaign and converted 31.5 per cent of his attempts at double. Cross pointed to the combination of nervous starts and a best-of-11 format in which there was little time available to recover.

“Sometimes Josh can be a little bit edgy and nervous, which I understand,” Cross continued. “In such a cut-throat format, playing over the best of 11 legs, if you’re not settled, it isn’t always easy to grind through that beginning and get the result.”

The Premier League disappointment has not prevented Rock from producing results elsewhere in 2026. He reached another UK Open semi-final, won the Austrian Darts Open and advanced to the World Matchplay quarter-finals, where Luke Littler ended his run.

“Knowing Josh, though, he’ll take whatever positives he found from it,” said Cross. “He’ll take the experience, carry on doing what he does and be better again next year. It won’t kill him and it won’t hurt him. The Premier League probably was a negative for him, and he would admit that, but sometimes you need that experience.”

Rock’s Premier League education could become particularly valuable when the World Darts Championship moves into the larger Great Hall at Alexandra Palace later this year.

“Look at the World Championship this year,” Cross said. “We’re moving into a bigger room and that is going to be totally different again for every player. I would imagine it will be like the Premier League. I’ve played there in front of 3,000 people and know how loud they are, but increasing that to 6,000 or 7,000 will be different for most players. It’s an environment that not everyone will settle into immediately. You do get used to it, though, and you take that experience from it.”

Cross has shared plenty of his own experience with Rock, who previously revealed that the former world champion had taken him under his wing. The pair are managerial stablemates, giving Cross a close view of Rock’s progress through his first season as a Premier League player.

“Josh will bounce back. I know he will,” he insisted. “He’s too good not to, and he has good people around him to help him achieve those goals. I think that’s important. Just because he didn’t really perform in the Premier League doesn’t mean he can’t perform. That experience will stand him in good stead in the future and, in my opinion, he’ll start building from it.”

Rock now has another opportunity to add a prominent stage title to his Austrian Darts Open victory. He faces Australian veteran Simon Whitlock in the opening round of the 2026 New Zealand Darts Masters at Auckland’s Spark Arena.