Wayne Mardle says Luke Humphries will use his Premier League darts campaign to prove a point with the slightly under-the-radar defending champions.
Humphries won Premier League glory over Luke Littler in the 2025 final at London’s O2 Arena.
However, since then the talk has been about ‘The Nuke’ who won the World Grand Prix, Grand Slam, World No. 1 and became the first back-to-back World Champion in a decade at just 18 years old.
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Highlights of last year’s Premier League darts final between Luke Humphries and Luke Littler
Not only that, Gian van Veen made his mark with a win over Humphreys in the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship, which helped him move up to third in the world en route to securing a place in the final.
This means that the story has branched out into a world of darts that doesn’t just see Luke vs. Luke rivalry as an option.
For Mardle, Humphries – who narrowly missed out on Littler at the Winmow World Masters title on Sunday – will use that to push him as he looks to defend his Premier League crown.
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Luke Littler beats Michael van Gerwen to become Saudi Arabia’s inaugural masters darts champion – a day before his 19th birthday
“Luke Littler is the man. And Luke Humphreys said that at the grand slam in November,” Mardle said.
“Humphreys is going to fight to the end. This could be good for him because we’re so quick – and when I say we, I’m talking about the media – we made Luka and Luka so quick, and that’s it.”
“Then it was Littler and the others. Well, Gian van Venn came in and spoiled everything for Humphries, because the way he smashed him in the quarter-finals (of the Worlds) was unbelievable.
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Highlights of the World Cup quarter-final between Luke Humphries and Gian van Veen
“Littler says he likes to go under the radar. I’m not sure about the Humphries thing. I believe he wants people to talk about him and has something to prove.”
“He and Michael van Gerwen are the ones who have points to prove. I want to see them hit the ground running and basically go ‘don’t forget about me’.”
“No one will forget about Humphries in a hurry because he will be around for a long time.”
MVG needs to get its 2025 campaign right
Another player with a point to prove in the Premier League is Van Gerwen.
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Luke Littler beats Michael van Gerwen to become Saudi Arabia’s inaugural masters darts champion – a day before his 19th birthday
He made a strong start in 2026, winning the Bahrain Darts Tournament and reaching the final of Saudi Arabia’s first Darts Tournament, but failed to win a night in the Premier League a year ago and missed out on the finals night.
As he tries to continue to show why he is still one of the best in the world, Mardle thinks MVG will have to adapt to the role of “elder statesman” trying to unsettle the new young guns.
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Speaking on Love The Darts, Matt Edgar and Paul Nicholson discuss Michael van Gerwen’s form in 2026.
“I’m kind of worried about, in a way, Michael van Gerwen. I’m not sure how he’s going to manage,” he said. “He didn’t make the playoffs last year for the first time in a long time. He’s not as much of a winner now as he was.”
“He’s still someone who needs to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind because he can beat anything. But there just seems to be a new breed, with Littler, Humphries and Van Venn.”
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Speaking on Love The Darts, Chris Murphy says he doesn’t know what to expect from Michael van Gerwen in this year’s Premier League
“You’ve got the old and the new and Van Gerwen is now the elder statesman in terms of experience and everything, and he’ll also want to hit the ground running.”
“In 2024 he won four Premier League weeks. Last year he didn’t win any. He has to put that right. There is pressure on him.”
Who will win this year’s Premier League darts? Luke Humphries will defend his title and you can catch the action every Thursday from February to May on Ski Sports. Stream darts and more top sports with NOW.