Gerwyn Price will take to the oche in Cardiff on Thursday night for the latest round of Premier League action and is desperate to put some smiles on Welsh faces
Gerwyn Price watched England stuff the tragic dragon in rugby’s Six Nations on holiday in Benidorm – but hopes he will land sunny side up in Cardiff on Thursday night. After Welsh rugby hit a new low last weekend, it has fallen to Price to restore sporting pride in the land of my darters.
And when he faces Rob Cross in the BetMGM Premier League, the ‘Iceman’ will be fortified by six successive wins against Luke Littler where nobody else can live with the reigning world champion’s red-hot form.
Price, a former hooker with Cross Keys who once scored a try in the Welsh Challenge Cup final at the Millennium stadium, admits he will be feeling the pressure to deliver a home win for a partisan crowd at the Utilita Arena.
He said: “I was watching the rugby last Saturday but I was in sunny Benidorm for a couple of days with the family – so I was probably better off not watching.
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“But I’ll support them no matter what and, hopefully over the next couple of years, they’ll get better and I think it runs a lot deeper than just the team at the minute.
“Something is going on in the background that nobody knows about, whether it’s grassroots or whatever, but fingers crossed over the next couple of years they’ll rectify it.
“That’s why I know there’s a lot of pressure on me. I want to go out and perform for a Welsh crowd and give them something they can cheer – they didn’t have much to cheer last weekend.”
At 40, Price is the oldest player in this year’s Premier League field, but he has been enjoying a mini-revival in form – especially whenever he meets Luke the Nuke.
He said: “In the past I have been negative on myself. Before the World Championship, I had a bit of help from a sports psychologist, trying to put my mind in the right place.
“Sometimes I might say I am enjoying it, loving it, but in the background it’s tough. I am glad to get another win over Luke last week because I don’t think it will last long, and playing in Wales is going to be a lot of pressure on me.
“It doesn’t make any difference to me when I’m playing Luke. He’s just another number to me and I think that’s where my strengths are.
“I don’t worry about who I’m playing, whereas other players, I think probably Luke got in their head a little bit. Or maybe I might be in Luke’s head a little bit.
“When the crowd are against me, sometimes I thrive on that. But when they are with you, it is even tougher because they turn out to support you and you want to give them something back.
“Yes, I am winning at the moment and it breeds confidence, makes me feel a bit better, but there is so much expectation on me to perform well in Cardiff.
“People can boo me or do whatever they want wherever they are in the world, but I’d swap 15 wins for one win in Cardiff. As long as I qualify (for the play-offs), it doesn’t make a difference.”
THURSDAY’S GAMES (Sky Sports, 7pm): Chris Dobey v Stephen Bunting, Luke Humphries v Michael van Gerwen, Luke Littler v Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price v Rob Cross.
