Former darts champion Peter Evison has told Gerwyn Price to accept any fines and embrace his controversial side to spice up the sport.
Rival players would consistently be at each other’s throats back in the day, but you’re now more likely to see them exchanging jokes and cuddles after a match. It’s all a bit too cosy for some, including 1996 World Matchplay winner Peter Evison, who reckons the game has lost its edge.
Evison developed a reputation for stirring the pot back in his heyday, and he reckons today’s players need to ditch the niceties – even if it means copping a fine or two. Darts chiefs have cracked down on the side action viewers once loved to see, but ‘The Fen Tiger’ believes it’s removed too much drama.
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Speaking to the Daily Express, he didn’t mince his words: “We need characters like we had in the 80s and 90s, a bit of fun. It’s taken too seriously now. If I’d been playing now, I’d be fined all the time probably.
“Why be pally? At the end of the day, they’re taking money off you. These people are playing you and if they beat you, they’re taking the bread and butter out of your mouth.
“I’d rather talk to no-one, get on with no-one and get out there and earn the money for myself. People are too friendly, too nicey-nicey. You’ve got to be ruthless, I’m afraid.”
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Former rugby player Price has been renowned for his knack of getting under the skin of his opponents, although he has mellowed somewhat in recent years. His most notorious display of gamesmanship came during his on-stage spat with Gary Anderson in the 2018 Grand Slam final.
“Gerwyn Price, that’s the way you’ve got to be,” added Evison. “They’ve [the PDC] changed him. They’ve told him not to act like that, do this, do that. If I was him, I’d act like that, pay my fine. I wouldn’t care, as long as I was winding people up and winning. He’s a character of the game.”
After a tough year marred by an undisclosed health problem, Price suffered another setback when Ross Smith knocked him out in the second round of the World Matchplay. The tournament resumes on Saturday, with Michael van Gerwen set to take on Michael Smith and world champion Luke Humphries squaring off against James Wade as they bid to make it to Sunday’s final.