HUMPHRIES REVEALS HIS BIG THREE FOR NEXT ERA

LUKE HUMPHRIES has tipped Josh Rock as the surprise star set to join him and Luke Littler at the top of darts over the next five years.

‘Cool Hand’ believes ‘Rocky’ will gatecrash the elite in the sport after an impressive 2025 campaign.

Antrim thrower Rock has had a standout 2025 campaign that has seen him lift the World Cup of Darts for Northern Ireland and reach three major semi-finals.

World No.1 Humphries believes a new era is forming and the 24-year-old will be a genuine threat on the oche for years to come.

He told talkSPORT: “I would say me, Josh [Rock] and Luke [Littler] to be honest.

“At the moment I can’t make a prediction for anything different.

“It could be another person. It could be someone else that we don’t even know right now.

“Gezzy [Price] is playing alright. Stephen [Bunting] is playing well.

“But for me I think us three are very consistent in the majors. Me and Luke [Littler] are for sure.

“We have definitely been the two top performers over the last two and a half years.

“Josh [Rock] is coming now. He started this tour really well. Then the pressure that got put on him was immense and it destroyed him a little bit.”

Humphries is wary that the hype surrounding Rock could return just as strongly and potentially weigh on him again.

He added: “I do worry that now he is playing well again that everyone hounds that pressure on him again, saying ‘He’s a future World Champion’ and ‘He is going to be in the Premier League’.

“We just have to give him time because I feel like if you hound that pressure on him, it might make him feel a little bit more claustrophobic.

“Like, ‘Oh my God, everyone thinks I have to win this and that’.”

Still, the eight-time major winner believes Rock is in a far better place to handle expectations now.

He continued: “I think he is more mature now which is the difference. But I do see Josh coming into the fray with me and Luke.

“He has to win that first major to put his name with us especially with the accolades me and Luke have got in the last two years.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.