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'Literally playing one of the games of his life, in the biggest game of his life' - Wayne Mardle hails Northern Irish star after World Cup heroics

Originally posted on Dartsnews.com | Last updated Jun 16, 2025 12:31 PM ET

The 2025 World Cup of Darts has been and gone, and the undoubted player of the tournament was Josh Rock. In only his second ever World Cup, ‘Rocky’ maintained a stunning tournament average of 102.42, with 20 180s, to lead Northern Ireland to their first ever World Cup title.

It’s the 24-year old’s first major title, and former World Championship semi-finalist and World Matchplay finalist Wayne Mardle, in conversation with Sky Sports after the tournament, believes this could be the catalyst for him to go onto bigger and better things in his still young professional career:

“Josh Rock has been world class for the last three or four years. This may be the catalyst for him to actually kick on and reach major finals. We know he can do damage, we know that, but it’s doing it enough to reach the latter stages on a regular basis. This has to give him the confidence of, ‘am I one of the best scorers in the world?’ Well he’s certainly proved it this week, but with Daryl Gurney in tow, they have got a solid backup for someone that was basically showing the other players in the world how to hit 180s, and holding it together is what professional sport is all about.”

‘Hawaii 501’ then went on to bust the myth of Rock’s apparent media-fuelled decline, outlining his perseverance and willpower despite heavy media pressure:

“There was a lot of fake news going around about Josh that he was on the decline because of the media. He wasn’t, he was actually climbing up the ranks, but for some reason that kind of got bandied around. ‘What’s happened to Josh Rock?’ Nothing, he’s just got better and better, but because he’s off of someone’s radar, it was like he’s no good anymore.”

Rock has been highly commended throughout the tournament for his adaptation to the tricky pairs format, and Mardle was keen to heap praise on the youngster for his self-belief and composure:

“He has been getting better and better, and this shows you that you can’t play like that if you don’t have the game or the belief. Belief is so important, especially in this kind of format. Pairs, we go on about it all the time, it wrecks rhythms. It didn’t wreck his. He’s just got the game.”

Whilst Rock was spectacular throughout this years World Cup, we cannot forget the other man in green to pick up the title in Daryl Gurney, whose doubling was stellar all tournament long. Mardle was quick to reflect on the significance of the pairing, who will undoubtedly feel they can put yet more stars on the back of the Northern Irish shirt in years to come:

“What a moment for the pair of them, because Daryl Gurney, he doesn’t win like he used to, so moments like this are even more special for him as well. He won the World Grand Prix, he won the Players Championship Finals, he hasn’t really won a lot since. So this is special for him, and for them to do it together, what a special moment.”

Finally, Mardle commented on the temperament and mental toughness Rock showed last night when it really mattered, something which he feels separates Rock from other players:

“No one knows the catalyst, no one knows, but what you do know is what you’ve just seen, and that is Josh Rock coming up here and literally playing one of the games of his life in the biggest game of his life. That’s not easy to do. Normally people will wilt a bit because the pressure mounts and you care too much and you can’t relax. Well for him to do that in the biggest game of his life tells you what kind of character he is”