"I don’t have to make statements anymore, I’m really tired of statements" – Michael van Gerwen fed up of needing to prove a point after Premier League night win

Michael van Gerwen made an immediate statement on the opening night of the Premier League Darts. In a competition he ended last year disappointingly without a night title, he now pocketed the full haul straight away.

Yet there was no exuberant ‘Mighty Mike’ afterwards. No grand gestures, no chest-beating. Van Gerwen stayed strikingly calm, almost matter-of-fact. And that perhaps says everything about his mindset at the start of this long Premier League campaign.

“It’s fine,” Van Gerwen said shortly after his win. “I think I did OK.” It typifies the mindset with which he has started this season. No boasting, no statements — a word he now openly dislikes — but focus on details, moments, and above all: points. Because that, as he repeatedly stressed, is what matters most in the Premier League.

Anyone who watched Van Gerwen on that first night saw that his level wasn’t consistently at the top. He acknowledged that himself. “In some patches my scoring was good, like my game against Gerwyn,” he said. “Whenever I had to put in a good leg with 140, 140, 140, and then afterwards I was poor again.”

But the key, as ever with Van Gerwen, was timing. “Then afterwards I played good again and had the right score at the right moment or a good finish at the right moment,” he explained. “And that’s what you want if you want to win nights like this.”

That is precisely the difference between winning and losing at this level. Van Gerwen didn’t need to dominate every leg. He didn’t have to average spectacularly throughout. What he did do was deliver when it mattered most. “Whenever I had to do well, I did well,” he said simply. “That makes you win games.”

That mature approach stands out, especially given the contrast with last year. Then, Van Gerwen went through the Premier League without a nightly win — unheard of for a player who had long been the face of the competition. That he struck immediately this time feels like a correction, even if he refuses to dress it up as such.

Normally, Van Gerwen is visibly exuberant after a victory. This time he remained notably composed. Asked about his restrained reaction, he pointed to the bigger picture. “There’s still a long way to go,” he said. “We know the Premier League is always a rollercoaster.”

That experience comes through in everything he says. Van Gerwen knows better than anyone how unforgiving this competition can be. “I’ve also been in a position where I won three nights in a row and then afterwards I played poorly,” he reflected. “So I need to make sure I keep my focus and momentum going also towards next week.”

It is the voice of a player who has seen it all — dominance, disappointment, and everything in between. Where he once perhaps thrived on raw emotion, control and self-awareness now take centre stage.

Van Gerwen was also asked about his fight for Dutch number one, particularly with domestic competition increasing. He was quick to shut the discussion down. “I never said that,” he responded. “That’s your words, not my words.”

For Van Gerwen, the equation is simple. “If you want to be the number one in the world, you have to face everything and you have to beat everyone,” he said. “And you have to be the number one of Holland as well.”

Still, he played down the label itself. “It’s not really about being Dutch number one, because I’ve been the Dutch number one for a long time,” he added. “And I think maybe I still am.” His focus, he insists, lies elsewhere. “For myself, I need to make sure I just keep winning my games. For the rest, I don’t really care.”

Van Gerwen was equally dismissive of suggestions that this opening-night win was a signal to the rest of the field. “I hate the word statement,” he said bluntly. “I don’t have to make statements anymore. I’m really tired of statements.”

That does not mean the hunger is gone. Far from it. “The expectation used to be, when you enter a tournament, Michael van Gerwen will win the tournament,” he said. “Otherwise I’m going to stop playing darts. If I don’t have that expectation or that feeling that I can’t do it anymore, then something is wrong.”

That competitive fire remains unchanged. “You all know me,” he added. “I always give 100 per cent, I never give up and I want to win. Simple as that.”

Asked how important it is for his mindset to get a nightly win on the board so early, Van Gerwen again kept things measured. “For my mindset, I don’t think that matters,” he said. “I know I have a good mindset, but it’s always nice to be in front of them instead of chasing them.”

He did acknowledge the contrast with last season. “Last year I had a very crap Premier League, if I can say it that way,” he admitted. “Normally I would use different words, but otherwise I get told off.” The message was unmistakable: this campaign has to be different.

If one concept kept recurring in Van Gerwen’s analysis, it was momentum. “Whenever I had to do well, I did well,” he said. “That makes a win game, simple as that.”

Winning, he believes, is the ultimate remedy. “Winning games is the best medicine for your form and everything,” he explained. “As long as you keep battling your own battles, winning games, you get confidence — and then anything is possible.”

Next week brings a new setting, with the Premier League heading to Belgium for the first time. Van Gerwen is curious rather than cautious. “We’re going to see what’s going to happen,” he said. “There are going to be a lot of Dutch people there, I reckon.”

Despite occasional frustrations with the format, the Premier League still holds a special place for him. “I love playing in the Premier League because I love playing in front of big crowds,” he said. “Sometimes I don’t really like the format, because sometimes I think it can get a little bit boring. But for me personally, playing in front of all those thousands of people gives me a lot of joy.”

Mentally, he is not yet at his peak — and he is honest about that. “No, not there yet,” Van Gerwen admitted. “I’m getting there, it takes time. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, mate.”