Dabble Darts ANZ Premier League 2026
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https://tegsport.com.au/event/pdc-anz-premier-league/
Date Reviewed: 10/10/2026
The Dabble Darts ANZ Premier League is an 8-man knockout tournament, where the same 8 competitors battle it out in the same tournament format over 5 separate events, in 5 locations in Oceania. At each event, points are awarded depending on how far you progress in each of the 5 tournaments. The 4 competitors with the highest point tallies at the end of these 5 standalone tournaments then battle it out in a 6th and final tournament. With the winner qualifying for the World Darts Championship in the UK.
Among the 8 players was the greatest Australian darts player ever, Simon ‘The Wizard’ Whitlock, who won last year’s tournament, 2025 runner-up Raymond ‘Guru’ Smith, who finished on top of the points table, but lost to Whitlock in last year’s final; and the current number 1 ranked Aussie, Brodie Klinge.
When I first started watching Premier League Darts, the old school G.O.A.T, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor would battle it out with the likes of his former protégé, Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis, the (then) rising star, ‘MVG’ Michael Van Gerwen, and my favourite, Raymond ‘Barney’ Van Barneveld. You'd regularly see the same characters at the business end of tournaments, making the sport easy to follow from afar without having to watch every contest. I felt I always knew what was happening with both the results and the rivalries, even if I hadn’t watched for a couple of weeks.
Add to this, that darts is a game where you could pick up the rules in 5 minutes, and didn’t need to have grown up with the sport, to understand it. And it was great to see a sport where the best players made me look as young, fit and handsome as Nick Daicos. It gave me hope and made it really easy to casually watch on TV.
As someone who has watched it on television for well over a decade, I thought I would know what to expect at a live darts event. But attending in person threw up a few surprises, even for an armchair expert like me.
Round 1 kicked off with a bang, with Whitlock and Klinge squaring off in a highly anticipated clash. While it was a banger on paper, the atmosphere was a bit subdued in Margaret Court Arena during this topline match-up. Maybe people were still getting accustomed to the rules, working out the rhythm of watching darts live or, most likely, the beers simply hadn't kicked in yet. With the rowdier section of the crowd (sat at tables on the arena’s floor area) only just starting to get lubricated.
By the time the third first round match started, the crowd were involved. Ben ‘Big Rig’ Robb (dressed in his trademark half darts shirt/half high-vis tradie shirt), and the event’s biggest showman 'The Thunder From Downunder' Tim Pusey fought out an instant classic. It was the perfect storm – the beers had started to influence the rowdy sections of the crowd, Robb’s unique appearance and crowd-engaging demeanour, and Pusey’s entrance lifted the energy levels of the whole crowd before a dart was even thrown in anger.
In fact, seeing Pusey, respectfully the tournament's nerdiest-looking player, saunter towards the stage to Flo Rida's "My House" was almost worth the admission price alone. He stopped for so many autographs and selfies during the 15-metre journey that they almost needed to start the song again. All while Robb watched from the stage laughing. Once he got to the stage, a big pre-game hug and laugh was had by both men, and finally the match-up could begin. This was a back-and-forth battle, with both players taking the momentum at different stages, with each player performing unique celebrations that kept the crowd involved. But it was Pusey who eventually triumphed 5-4 in the best-of-9 round 1 match-up. And by now, the crowd was all-in. Not just on these two individual competitors, but the whole event.
Sentimental favourite, Whitlock was knocked out in the semi-final by Mal ‘The Bull’ Cuming, and Pusey had to overcome Smith, who had become frustrated with a “tricky wind” within Margaret Court Arena. While I couldn’t feel any breeze in the indoor stadium and was surprised by the complaint from Smith; I was admittedly sitting a fair distance from the stage, so could not experience the same conditions he could. This didn’t seem to win Smith any fans, in a clash where he was already against the crowd-favourite. In movie terms, Pusey was the good guy and had to topple a string of seemingly invincible villains. This culminated in the final against Cuming.
While Cuming had the crowd happy and singing along to his “Working Class Man” entrance music, and he played the game in a relaxed spirit, the crowd was still on Pusey’s side. And with the form Cuming was in, it looked like Pusey was also the underdog. And in true Hollywood fashion, the night’s Rocky story played out perfectly, to send the crowd home happy on the back of another epic 5-4 result in Pusey’s favour.
Knowing that this was just a qualifier for the big dance, and with the sport not as big here, I had assumed that the event would be at a much smaller scale than what I had seen beamed in from the UK. While that was the case, the structure of the event and the crowd-involvement, was in-line with what is seen on TV at the bigger events. For anyone that has watched darts on TV, there were the trademark dress-ups, funny hand-held signs, crowd-led song and chants, and lowbrow humour (which I mean as a positive!). It all worked far better than I'd expected from what was, ultimately, a qualifying event. Judging by the crowd, I doubt many would need much convincing to return when the circus next rolls into town.
The presentation of the event was strong. Foxtel’s Ben Dixon was surprisingly decent hosting an event in a different realm outside his usual wheelhouse, the audio and visual presentation was excellent, the pacing of the event worked, and the addition of PDC referee Russ “The Voice” Bray added credibility to the whole show. Hearing his trademark "Onnnnneeee Huuunnndrrreeeed And Eiiiiiggggghhhhtty!" in the flesh was also something I never expected to tick off the bucket list.
However, I don't think I've ever attended a sporting event where I spent more time watching the big screen than the action happening in front of me. While it makes sense logistically, I hadn’t budgeted on how much better suited this sport is to television than watching the play unfold live. And this is why the atmosphere and crowd involvement is so important. That's why the atmosphere and crowd involvement matter so much. Darts works less as "live sport" and more as a "live experience". If the chanting, costumes, drinking and general crowd carry-on don't sound like your cup of tea, darts may genuinely be better from the couch. But if you're happy for the sport itself to be only part of the entertainment, embrace the chaos. A night at the darts is one hell of a live experience.
Reviewed by Dion Gaunt