“We’re just trying to play Tetris with time” – Raymond Smith on the new problem created by Australian darts boom

Raymond Smith believes darts in Australia and New Zealand is entering one of its strongest periods yet, but the rapid expansion of the calendar is creating a new problem for the region’s leading players: finding room for everything.

The Australian arrives at that assessment fresh from an impressive run at the 2026 New Zealand Darts Masters in Auckland. Smith thrashed Stephen Bunting 6-2 with a 99.81 average and 85.71% on the doubles in the opening round, then beat compatriot Adam Leek to reach the semi-finals before eventually losing 7-2 to Gerwyn Price.

His Auckland run underlined the wider point Smith has been making about the rise in standards Down Under, with players now getting more chances to test themselves in meaningful competition.

The next addition is the new Trans-Tasman Championship, which will bring together the top 16 players from the Australian Darts Association and the top 16 from Darts Players New Zealand. A place at the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace will also be on the line.

“Yeah, it was really good,” Smith told the Weekly Dartscast when asked about the new event. “It’s really exciting to see that we’re getting these opportunities.”

That growth means Smith and his fellow players now have far more commitments to balance across national, regional and local competition. “From our perspective, I suppose it’s just about timing,” he explained. “Our calendar is already pretty jacked at the moment between Darts Australia and the ADA, and trying to do club things and support your local state and so on, so it’s been very, very difficult.”

Smith is still trying to work out exactly how much of the Trans-Tasman programme he will be able to attend. “I’m trying to manoeuvre it around because I think I miss the doubles day on Saturday. I’m not sure if I can make it on Friday either, so I’m hoping to make it there for the Test match on Saturday night," he said. “We’re just trying to play Tetris with time at the moment.”

The ADA circuit and ANZ Premier League have already added further high-level competition, while the Trans-Tasman Championship creates another significant event and another route onto the global stage.

Alongside the individual competition, Australia and New Zealand will also meet in a Test match featuring team, pairs and singles contests.

For Smith, the appeal goes beyond simply beating the Kiwis. He sees the increasingly close relationship between the two countries as an important part of improving standards across the region.

“It’s one of those things, you know, darts is going gangbusters at the moment and we’re doing a lot of good things in Australia, but we’re also sharing what we’re learning across the Tasman as well,” he said. “The players, the camaraderie between Australia and New Zealand is fantastic. We really get in to support each other. The knowledge sharing there, again, that’s just the balance that we’ve got between Australia and New Zealand darts.”

“Now we’re moving to Test matches on a more regular basis,” Smith continued. “It’ll be awesome just to get up there and start beating each other up a little bit more and not waiting for the ANZ Premier League.”

Smith's own performances in Auckland gave that argument extra weight. Only days after saying players in Australia can now average 95 and still find themselves going out in the last 32 of domestic events, he took that level onto a World Series stage and eliminated Bunting before reaching the semi-finals.

Smith believes creating more opportunities for players to compete outside their familiar domestic environment is particularly important for the next stage of development in Australia and New Zealand.

“International experience is huge. You can’t underestimate or undervalue it at all,” he said. “Giving other guys international experience, us going there, them coming here, our guys getting to play against them and their guys getting to play against us — it’s massive for the sport in our region.”

The increasingly congested diary is the trade-off. Australian and New Zealand players now have more meaningful tournaments, more international competition and more routes towards the biggest stages in the sport than they did before, but fitting all of them into the calendar is becoming part of the challenge.