“There’ll be a lot of giving it large" - Josh Rock won't back down from Gerwyn Price after dumping Van Gerwen out of World Matchplay

Josh Rock has told Dartsnews.com fans can expect fireworks when he takes on Gerwyn Price in the World Matchplay quarter-finals — just days after the Welshman’s fiery clash with Rock’s World Cup teammate Daryl Gurney ended in a physical confrontation.

“There’ll be a lot of giving it large on stage,” Rock grinned, speaking in his post-match press conference with dartsnews.com, after a thrilling tie-break win over Michael van Gerwen at the Winter Gardens. “Me and Gezzy aren’t like that, we’ve got mutual respect – but we’re both giving it as large as anything, and that’ll come out on stage.”

Tensions between Price and Gurney spilled over in their last-16 meeting, with both players exchanging words and briefly squaring up at the end of a heated match. Now, just four weeks after helping Gurney lead Northern Ireland to a World Cup semi-final, Rock steps up to face Price in a blockbuster quarter-final that’s already generating buzz. “What happened between Gezzy and Daryl – that’s between them two,” Rock said. “But I’ve played with Daryl, and I know what he’s like. I’ve also played against Gezzy, and I know what he’s like. So yeah, it’ll be a very interesting match.”

Rock’s confident comments came after the biggest win of his career, a 13–11 tie-break victory over Van Gerwen that saw him battle back from 4–1 and 9-6 down to beat the three-time Matchplay champion under the lights in Blackpool.

“It took a couple of years for me to arrive,” Rock admitted. “But everybody knows what was going on behind the scenes. If I was me last year, would I have won that? No chance. But this year, because I’m more experienced, I know how to win – that’s why I’ve won it.”

Having dismantled Ross Smith 10–5 in round one, Rock found himself on the other end of a fast start from Van Gerwen. “The first session felt like the Ross Smith game – but this time I was Ross Smith,” he said. “I just couldn’t find anything at all. I was happy to get a leg and then just kick on from that.”

From 5–1 down, Rock clawed his way back into the match and forced a nail-biting finale. He credits winning the bull — and holding his nerve — as crucial to getting over the line. “People say the bullseye doesn’t matter, but it does matter. I don’t care what anybody says,” he said. “When it comes to bulling up and you're in that scenario to throw first, that’s good – you’ve got to really concentrate for the bull.”

Rock landed a sensational 152 checkout at 10–10 with Van Gerwen sitting on a possible 12-darter, and looked for the win, but 'MvG' followed it with a skin saving 138 checkout shortly after. “I just felt very relaxed,” he said. “I was like, if you hit it, you hit it – if you don’t, you don’t. And then it was the 138, and I just thought, ‘That’s how it is.’”

Van Gerwen, as ever, was animated on stage, but Rock insists he was unfazed by the big-game atmosphere. “If anybody gives it large to me, I keep it in because I know I can feed off it,” he said. “Michael kept giving it loads – everybody heard him. But I just kept building that moment, and when it came to it, I hit the double.”

Rock says a breakthrough run with Gurney at the World Cup earlier this summer has helped shape his new-found self-belief. “You're winning for your country – and it's hard to win for your country as a pro. But that definitely helps you,” he said. “The World Cup’s done it all.”

He’s now just two wins away from a first major title, and believes he’s finally in the right place mentally to go all the way. “When the time’s right, I’ll win a major – that’s what I believe in,” he said. “MVG’s won his world titles, his Matchplays, his Premier Leagues – he’s meant to. But when the time’s right, I’ll win my major.”

Before then, though, it’s time to unwind and soak in the moment. “I’m just grateful I’m not playing tomorrow,” Rock laughed. “It’ll be a big rest – Netflix all day, everything – that’ll be nice.”