If there was ever a complete opposite to The Rocky Horror Show, it just premièred this evening in Blackpool – and featured significantly more tungsten and significantly fewer fishnets.
Josh Rock, having the year of his life, casually rattled in a 104.32 average and made dismantling an elite player like Ross Smith look suspiciously straightforward. Shades of Littler, with just a little more mileage on the clock.
The Northern Ireland World Cup winner stormed into a 5-0 lead by the first break, leaving Smith looking like he’d just been mugged by a hurricane. But Smudger isn’t a former European Champion by accident – and he dug in admirably, showing all the grit, class, and guile that’s got him this far in the first place.
Unfortunately for the Dover man, the closest he came was 6-3 down – yet he still kept swinging. If there’s a silver lining to be found, it’s this: after being metaphorically walloped between the eyes by a Rock, he drew the rest of the match. And when your opponent is lobbing in excess of 104 at you, that’s no small feat – just not much use when you’ve already donated five legs to the cause.
This version of Josh Rock – efficient, confident, borderline terrifying – is the one we were told would arrive a couple of years ago. And according to the man himself, there’s a good reason for the delay.
“No one knows what was going on behind the scenes – for the last two years I had manager and manufacturer problems. Now it’s been sorted – I’m with the best company in darts, Target, and I’ve proven what I can do.”
Rock’s newfound calm off the oche is translating nicely on it. There’s no sense of overhype or distraction – just a very focused, very dangerous man with a dart in hand. Heading in to the last batch of Players Championships, Rock could have leapfrogged Danny Noppert into the final seeding position – but was he bothered?
“My manager said to me, ‘Try your best to get seeded,’ and I said I would – but the seeds didn’t matter to me. There’s no easy draws whatsoever.”
And when the draw was made, Rock had a feeling the darting gods were lining things up for him – a chance to avenge his opening round defeat twelve months earlier:
“I had a giggle to myself – back home in Tesco car park – when Ross’s name came out, I said I would be next.”
Every little helps…?
It’s been a whirlwind few months for Rock – both personally and professionally – but he’s taking it all in stride. A trip up the matrimonial aisle, glory for his country alongside Daryl Gurney… and now, potentially, a major TV title on the Blackpool stage. So what’s the running order Josh?
“Marriage, World Cup, and Matchplay in third,” he quipped – ranking his achievements with the dry humour of someone who knows the real boss isn’t his manager or his sponsor, but the one waiting at home.
And with his maiden World Series appearance looming and a trip to Australia on the horizon – news he discovered while in Spain, not Tesco’s this time – I asked Josh which member of the Rock clan would be accompanying him down under.
“My wife’s going over – and I’m grateful my Mum’s keeping an eye on the kids for a couple of weeks.”
With his personal life settled, his kit sorted, and his scoring as smooth as you like, Josh Rock might finally be arriving right on schedule – just fashionably late.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC / T Lanning
