"If he thinks that's the right thing, he's his own boss": Is Gary Anderson undercooked ahead of World Matchplay? Chris Mason weighs in

Is Gary Anderson undercooked ahead of the World Matchplay? For Chris Mason, he has had his say but said that unlike others he can't pass judgement as Anderson has always done it his own way.

Speaking at Defence Darts to Online Darts, Mason spoke about big names missing out on the World Matchplay and said that in reality it is a concern as if you miss the yearly sojourn to Blackpool, you know you're not in a good spot.

"I think for me, as an ex-player, when you miss out on the Matchplay, that was a tough one to take because it was usually an indicator that you were in a spot of bother in your form, especially in my day, because of course the field had nowhere near the strength and depth it had now but then it was devastating," said Mason to Online Darts.

"Now everyone knows the Matchplay, outside of the World Championship for me, it's the second most important tournament, it's the one with the history outside of the Worlds and yeah, certain players are stalwarts for the Matchplay that we're not going to see but listen, father time waits for no man, and if you get lazy you get found out now.

"The players that are not putting the graft in, listen you've got no excuse, you've got a year, you've got a year, well not quite but yeah, and a few players are going to miss out. It'll either be the kick up the backside they need or it's a genuine slide, we've seen it from players before and they've used it as a tool to really bounce back and I hope for the players missing out that's exactly what the case is."

Mason also pointed out that in reality, Simon Whitlock and James Wade where they have stopped and got back to where they have with The Machine the only one who in reality has continued to sit at the top table of darts.

"It is because everyone around you is making gains on you all the time and there's enough pressure anyway but I think this isn't the case for certain players but I know a lot of players now are sort of, I'm not going to do this, I'll skip that, that may come back at some point to haunt them a little bit, you know, you hope not but listen the sport is in a, it's got a different dynamic to it now, you know, I think ProTours, yeah, I get why players don't bother with those so much but I think missing out on Euro Tours when you're in them, I think that's a booboo."

Gary Anderson is often a darting enigma and has decided to skip more tournaments as of late. Mason though isn't concerned as he heads into Blackpool.

"Gary's Gary, listen, that guy's got more talent in his little finger than I had in my whole body but listen, he knows what he's doing, if he thinks that's the right thing, he's his own boss, right, Gary does what he wants and he makes me smile and he's, listen, he's one of the greatest to ever do it and if he's missing out on them, he either genuinely doesn't care or he's got a different approach and he's maybe grafting and trying to do it via practice but I don't think anything beats match practice but again, that's my personal way of doing things and that really worked out for me so maybe I should have done it the Gary way."

Anderson's son Tai could be next down the conveyer belt and Mason sees no-one better to give him that mentality on the oche than his father.

"Yeah, I don't think we've got to wait too long to have another Anderson to support, he's brilliant and he's such a lovely lad, as you would expect and that's quite a funny dynamic between him and Tai because he doesn't give him any change whatsoever, it's great and listen, if he makes it, he's going to be a force because he's not going to be handed anything."

But who can trouble Littler and Humphries for the title in Blackpool. Mason only sees two in reality who could. "Maybe Jonny Clayton, maybe Gezzy Price if he can be arsed."

Chris Dobey and Rob Cross were also named as potential names, but the same can be said for Wessel Nijman; Mason sees him as a threat outside the top two. But said up to 30 could win it outside of the top two. "I think if he takes this Euro Tour and ProTour form onto the TV stage, yeah, almost impossible because our big concern from him was getting over the line, wasn't it? He put himself in so many great winning positions and dominant positions and couldn't close them out.

"And he's used the ProTour and the Euro Tour for exactly learning how to do that and he looks a different player the last six, seven months. He's just looked... Listen, we always know the talent's there, I mean the ability is there and now he's added the mentality and he's another one, he's a threat at the Matchplay, but he's another one that can average big numbers for long distances and yeah, he's one on the short list. But that short list, outside of the top two, it's probably another 30."

Rob Cross has also won titles since he had relationship issues in his case as well as his tax problems. But 'Voltage' has found a spark and Mason sees it as perhaps a big weight off his shoulders in reality.

"He's had his own issues to deal with, which have been well documented, and he seems to be sort of coming out the other side of that right now.

"He probably feels there's a huge weight off his shoulders and he can play now with a bit of freedom. It's all out there, and everyone has an opinion or a thought on it, and that's up to them.

"The fact that he probably feels like, right, nothing can happen to me now, it's out there, and everybody can still say whatever they want to say, but for him, more importantly, he's got nothing to hide. It's sad; he's got kids, and it's horrible seeing him. We had the same thing with Michael (van Gerwen), and it affected him as well initially until it became public knowledge, and he was allowed just to get on with his life, and look what he did.

"He popped up and won the World Series Finals, didn't he? The World Series Finals and maybe something like that, hopefully, can happen to Rob."