Ramblings of a Lad

With the world cup of darts just a month away, Wales were considered strong favourites by both fans and pundits alike.

Ranked fifth and eighth in the world respectively, Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price have a history of success in pairs events, and they get on well away from the oche, too. Add form to the equation, and the Welsh had incredible chances of winning the world cup of darts for the third time.

Gerwyn started 2026 with an incredibly positive mindset, going about darts with an attitude that not a lot of people associate him with. He started the year in fine form, talking about how he was playing as much darts as physically possible.

After a relatively slow start to the year, Jonny Clayton burst back into headlines with a blistering start to the premier league campaign, and has looked to be at the top of his game since.

So, it came as a huge shock when the world cup pairings were announced – and it was confirmed that Price had “made himself unavailable for selection.”

Immediately, the internet went wild with theories – mostly surrounding his health. Just a few days prior, on Night 14 of the premier league in Leeds, Gerwyn stated that he’s not in the best place regarding his health. This isn’t the first time this year that Gerwyn has mentioned his health issues, so naturally, fans assumed that he was sitting out the world cup due to his health.

But, as if the original omission wasn’t a shock enough, Price added fuel to the fire with a cryptic Instagram story post.

Naturally, this post has only caused social media to blow up even more. Despite posting this “to clarify” the situation, the darting world has been left with more questions than answers – and certainly more questions than they started with.

And now, instead of concern about his wellbeing, the focus is on his recent antics, and how it affects Wales and Jonny Clayton.

Gerwyn has never been fully committed to darts. His one true love has always been Rugby. He played Rugby internationally for Wales at a youth level, but failed to make a proper professional breakthrough. Some reports say he wasn’t fully dedicated or focused – juggling rugby with other work – while others suggest that he had a recurring shoulder injury.

Regardless, Price somewhat stumbled into a career in darts. He played for his local side, before things developed from there. Due to his evident natural talent, he was advised to enter Q school, and well, the rest is history. Price never really loved darts – but he is fantastic at it, and sees it as a way to provide for his family.

So, despite his eagerness and positive mentality at the start of this year, a lot of people were already questioning his commitment long-term- with some theorising that he might even see out the world cup with Jonny Clayton, and then think about retiring. Although of course, that’s all up in the air now.

It’s also worth noting that Gerwyn is registered for the UK open pool championship, which takes place from May 25-30. He’s participated in pool tournaments before, and received a wildcard invitation to play this time. Now of course, this doesn’t clash with the world cup of darts – but it definitely brings his commitment into question.

The PDC have a very relaxed view on things, releasing a statement saying that players do not need special permission to play other sports in their downtime, and that they are confident he would choose darts over pool in the event of a clash. However, this logistical headache may be about to become a very real issue for the PDC and Gerwyn.

Premier League finals night is on May 28, and Gerwyn currently sits third in the table. It looks highly likely he’ll achieve a play-off spot.

With this in mind, it’s clear that Gerwyn may have a decision to make. He can’t be in two places at once, so he’ll have to choose between a deep run in the pool, or a big night at the O2.

Even though it’s unlikely he’ll make a deep run, it’s still a questionable decision for him to accept the invite. Gerwyn is well known for his ultra-competitive mentality- he’s obsessed with being the best. So there has to be one – either pool or darts – that he’s not fully committed to, and isn’t worried about. You have to imagine that it’s the pool- but if that’s the case, why accept the invitation? There must be one of the two where he’s not giving it his all, because it’s not possible for him to win both.

Then, there’s his recent social media antics to consider. He’s been extremely vocal about his political stance, and received a lot of backlash for it, too.

While Gerwyn is no stranger to backlash, it’s always been a case of darting drama – and not political issues that happen away from the oche.

Reform are well known for their extreme and polarising views, but a lot of the criticism has come from his misinformed views. Earlier in the year, on the 19th of March, he went on a Facebook rant blaming Plaid Cymru for school transport cuts in his local area.

However, people were quick to point out that the specific council dealing with the area has been run by Labour for well over a decade.

Others were also keen to add that reform propose to do the same thing in Warwickshire and Kent. Since the post, he’s been receiving backlash even from his most loyal fans. He’s been accused of being a misinformed, uneducated, racist bigot – with most telling him to just stick to the darts. It’s also worth noting that this particular post was made in between his quarter final and semi final games on premier league night 7 in Dublin, before going on to lose 6-5 to Luke Littler in the final – in a match that he was initially leading 5-0.

His head, evidently, is not fully in the game – despite his good form at times. It certainly puts his future as a professional darts player into question. Or perhaps, he’s backing out of the world cup because any winnings from it don’t count towards the PDC order of merit? He’s won it twice before, and it seems entirely possible that maybe, he just doesn’t care about winning it a third time.

Whichever way you look at it, it’s a massive shame. For Wales, for the quality of the tournament as a whole, but most of all for Jonny Clayton.

He’s been red-hot this year and captured the hearts of darts fans all across the world. There’s absolutely no denying that him and Gerwyn would’ve been incredibly tough to beat at the world cup.

With all due respect to Nick Kenny, Gerwyns replacement and the 60th ranked player in the world, Wales’ chances have taken a massive hit. It’s a great opportunity for Kenny, sure. But overall, you can’t help but feel that most importantly from all of this, Gerwyn has not only let his country down, but his good friend Jonny Clayton, too.