Josh Rock is determined to put on a show for his home fans as the Premier League bandwagon rolls into Belfast this evening.
The 24-year-old Antrim man is in his first year in the Professional Darts Corporation's Premier League as eight of the sport's best players compete over 16 regular season nights and the play-offs for a £350,000 (€400,000) first prize.
Rock, who last year won the World Cup of Darts alongside Derry's Daryl Gurney, is world number nine but received a wildcard pick from the PDC to compete.
The Broughshane native has yet to win a game, losing in the quarter-finals to Jonny Clayton, Michael van Gerwen and defending champion Luke Humphries, and is eager to get a foothold in the competition and give the home crowd something to cheer about.
"It'd be massive. I give a million % every time, but this one's going to be a lot more different because in a way it is all about me," Rock, who meets Gian van Veen in the quarter-final, told RTÉ Sport.
"It's Belfast so I'm going to have to give it my all to try and get some points on the board. It's probably the one I've looked forward to the most, my home crowd so let's see what the fireworks are going to bring for myself.
"I've loved every minute of [the Premier League].
"I know I haven't won a game just yet, but I've been loving being there every single week and knowing what I'm there for.
"I've got quite a few family and friends coming. I think they're all looking forward to it as much as I am."
Antrim's Josh Rock is determined to make his Premier League mark when the roadshow hits Belfast on Thursday night #RTESport pic.twitter.com/ce59Wnbm9G
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 25, 2026
While it's Rock's first time in the Premier League, he has been a frequent visitor to the SSE Arena in Belfast as a fan and he's always believed he could take the next step.
"The very first time I was there Adrian Lewis hit the nine-darter against James Wade [in 2016]," Rock, who didn't play in yesterday's PC6, recalled.
"I was playing darts at a very young age; I said if I became a professional I would love to be in the Premier League and play in Belfast one day.
"Then in 2023, the year after my debut year, whenever I got brought onto the stage at Belfast with the Best Newcomer and best Young Player of the Year, I got on stage and I did say on the mic that I would play in Belfast one day."
Rock won the World Youth championships in 2022 and has also claimed five ProTour victories.
He reached the semi-finals of the UK Open, World Matchplay and World Series finals last year and is up to number nine on the order of merit.
He's yet to reach a major singles final but last year was part of the Northern Ireland team that won the World Cup in Frankfurt, beating Republic of Ireland duo Willie O'Connor and Keane Barry in the quarters, Germany in the semi-finals and Wales in the final.
The German team of Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko shocked tournament favourites Luke Littler and Humphries in the second round.
"The way I look at it, you have to be good friends, well... not good friends, but at least sociable with your pairs partner," he said of the dynamic between him and Gurney, a former Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals winner.
"Some people in that room don't get on with each other and it just doesn't click for them.
"I'm not saying Luke and Luke don't get on with each other, because they do, but just different personalities just didn't work.
"It happened the very first time the World Cup when Phil Taylor and James Wade played together and they were one and two in the world at that time and then they got beat straight away.
"It didn't surprise me, but then they came up against a good strong German side.
"[Myself and Daryl are] the perfect partnership. I done all the scoring, he done all the finishing. You can't ask for any more in a partnership than that.
"Yes, it was great to put a stamp on it, having the star on the back of the shirt for next year.
"As I said, it was the first World Cup we've ever won, so it was great for obviously all sports [in Ireland]."
Rock faces World Championship runner-up Van Veen, a fellow first-time participant in the Premier League, in the last of this evening's quarter-finals.
He has beaten the Dutchman in their last four meetings but, win or lose tonight, Rock says he'll quickly move onto the next job at hand.
"I'm probably different to most people," he said. "I'm one of these ones who build a bridge and gets over it, move on to the next game. I don't really let anything eat at me too much.
"I think out of my whole career, I've let it happen to me once and that's when Jonny Clayton beat me at the World Championship in 2023.
"That was probably the only time I actually dwelled on losing, every other time, I'm pretty quick to forget about it."
2026 BetMGM Premier League Night Four -
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler v Jonny Clayton
Stephen Bunting v Luke Humphries
Michael van Gerwen v Gerwyn Price
Gian van Veen v Josh Rock
Semi-Finals
Littler / Clayton v Bunting / Humphries
Van Gerwen / Price v Van Veen / Rock
