Wayne Mardle says Luke Humphries will use his Premier League Darts campaign to prove a point with the defending champion flying somewhat under the radar.
Humphries claimed Premier League glory over Luke Littler in the 2025 final at London's O2 Arena.
However, since then the storyline has all been about 'The Nuke' who clinched the World Grand Prix, Grand Slam, world No 1 spot and became the first back-to-back world champion in a decade at just 18 years of age.
Not only that, Gian van Veen made his mark with victory over Humphries in the World Darts Championship quarter-finals that helped move him up to world No 3 on the way to booking his spot in the final.
It means the storyline has diverged in the darting world that sees more than just the Luke vs Luke rivalry as the option.
For Mardle, Humphries - who narrowly missed out to Littler at the Winmau World Masters title on Sunday - will be using that to drive him as he looks to defend his Premier League crown.
"Luke Littler is the man. And Luke Humphries said that at the Grand Slam in November," Mardle said.
"Humphries will fight all the way. This could be good for him because we so quickly - and when I say we, I'm on about the media - we so quickly made it Luke and Luke, and that's it.
"Then it was Littler and the others. Well, Gian van Veen's come along and spoiled everything in terms of Humphries because the way he dismantled him in the quarter-finals [of the Worlds], he was incredible.
"Littler says he likes to go under the radar. I'm not sure about this with Humphries. I believe that he wants people to talk about him and he's got a point to prove.
"He and Michael van Gerwen are the ones with points to prove. I want to see them hit the ground running and basically give it, 'don't forget about me'.
"No one will forget about Humphries in a hurry because he's going to be around for a long time."
Another player with a point to prove in the Premier League is Van Gerwen.
He made a strong start in 2026, winning the Bahrain Darts Masters and reaching the final of the inaugural Saudi Arabia Darts Masters, but failed to win a night on the Premier League circuit a year ago and missed out on Finals Night.
As he looks to keep showing why he is still one of the world's best, Mardle thinks MVG will have to adapt to the role of "elder statesman" trying to upset the new young guns.
"I'm kind of concerned about, in a way, Michael van Gerwen. I'm not sure how he's going to do," he said. "He didn't make the play-offs last year for the first time in a long time. He's now not as much of a winner as he used to be.
"He's still very much someone that needs to be in the forefront of everyone's mind because he can win anything. But there seems to be just a new breed, with Littler, Humphries and Van Veen.
"You've got the old and the new and Van Gerwen being the elder statesman now in terms of experience and everything and also he will want to hit the ground running.
"In 2024, he won four weeks of the Premier League. Last year he didn't win any. He's got to put that right. There's pressure on him."
Who will win this year's Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday from February until May on Your Site. .
