"I’m going to be in this game for 35 years, so this won’t be my best year" - Josh Rock sends out ominous message to rivals

Josh Rock is currently having the season of his life, but he has stated that the best is yet to come. The Northern Irishman had travelled to Manchester among with many other darting icons to be apart of the 2025 Target Launch, with him revealing that he had cancelled previous plans to be here.

"Oh absolutely amazing. Especially opening up the shop for everybody like this," Rock said in an interview with Online Darts. "I’m glad I was here – I wasn’t even meant to be, I had other stuff going on, but I cancelled and thought, I’m going straight to the Target launch. I wanted to show my face for Gary obviously – he’s been massive for me and my career. It’s been absolutely fantastic.

"I’ll buy the whole shop! I’ve actually got Phil’s new ones – they look quite nice, so I’ll just keep them because they look nice."

2025 has been an outstanding year for Josh Rock. He is constantly hitting mammoth averages, making finals of Pro and European Tours, going on deep runs in majors, and capped it all off by winning the World Cup with fellow countryman Daryl Gurney in a historic night for Northern Ireland.

The 24-year-old is extremely happy at where his game currently is, but expects much more to come in the future. "Yes, at the moment these are the darts of my career," he said. "But I’m only getting better – I’m going to be in this game for 35 years, so this won’t be my best year! But right now, yeah, this is my best year so far."

With the ups comes the inevitable downs. He was defeated by Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals of the World Series of Darts Finals, losing six of the last seven legs after he was put off by a chorus of distracting whistles and jeers. He was left fuming after the match about this, and has still not got it off his chest.

"It’s different when it’s 3,500–4,000 fans whistling – that’s one consistent noise and you can deal with it. But when it’s just one person whistling, it’s not fair. In my opinion, they should be thrown out straight away. It was a crucial point in the game. I was going for a double to keep the score close with Michael – I was competing with him easily enough. But then whoever that numpty was whistled, and I gave the sarcastic thumbs up. It puts it in your head and it’s hard to shake off. The frustration definitely lingered.

"Someone needs to have the guts to say, 'It was him,' and throw them out – whether it’s me or not being targeted. Because it ruins it for everybody. People come to watch us perform – nine-darters, big finishes, great games – not listen to some numpty whistling.

When asked if he could get used to it, Rock said: "Probably not. You never know when to expect it. Sometimes I’d miss a double and nothing happened, and then at a crucial moment – bang – someone whistles. That’s what gets to you."

Despite this, he was happy that van Gerwen went on to win the title, finding his best form again. "It’s obviously good for Michael. We all go through ups and downs in our careers and he’s had a big one. That long term might have kept him away, but it looks like he’s back – especially when he’s in Holland, he just seems to turn it on," Rock said.

With this upturn in form, Rocky is considered one of the massive favourites to feature in the 2026 Premier League. Three major semi-finals along with the World Cup win has left him in a very advantageous position to take that next stride in his career, but that is not on his mind for now, as he said: "I just laugh at it. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing – going further in majors, playing consistently – and hopefully, fingers crossed, things happen naturally.

16-time World Champion Phil Taylor recently lauded Rock in an interview, putting him forward as the second person on the list to be in the prestigious event. Rocky was delighted with this compliment, as he said: "Massive confidence. The first time I met Phil was in a hotel – we sat talking for two or three hours. He told me, “If you’re not on it next year, there’s something wrong.” To hear that from the greatest of all time – it means the world. I looked up to him as a kid, so I was a bit nervous speaking to him, but he’s just a normal bloke."