JAMES WADE does not believe he’s a “dark horse” to pick up his second Premier League title.
The Aldershot hotshot has made a typically steady start to the campaign including reaching one final.
Wade, 38, is confident that he can add to his league title last won 13 years ago - which underlines his evergreen longevity in the sport.
He said: “I don’t see myself as a dark horse. In the second week I had some problems at home, no excuse why I lost to Joe Cullen. I wasn’t there as a person. That’s why that second week was so poor.
“If I get the bit between my teeth, if things go my well, there’s no reason why I can’t get in that top four. You’ve got to grind out results at times. But I’ve also proved I can average in the hundreds.”
Wade has won 10 TV titles, the third most decorated player in the sport, but feels he is mainly understood by fans and the media.
He added: “I’ve been around for such a long time and I’ve beaten so many players in hard games and the crowd has been against me. I still find it quite a surprise when people are shocked when I do win something.
“At the end of the day I’m in top form and won a few things. People also forget the amount of finals I’ve been in. If I’ve won 10 titles I must have lost in 20 finals because of a little Philip Taylor. That kind of frustrates me a little bit. I guess with the new age and new era of darts fans or the people who watch darts, because I’m not pushed or promoted like players who are well under me, they don’t know me.
“They think I’m just a miserable bloke with a beard that looks quite sulky. But there is more to me. It upsets me as well. I’m not a bad person.
“I probably do more than the average Joes in the way of helping people and doing things and donating and bits and bobs.
“It annoys me that people don’t see that side. I do care about other people and what other people think of me.
“I don’t have a problem with the big press. It’s the pop up people and podcasts who can do or say whatever they want, and they do it without any thought either. They don’t care as long as their followers are going up and earning their bit of money.
“But they do portray me differently from what I actually am. I can be the biggest pain in the arse but I’m not a bad person. But that all depends on the mood I’m in and what sort of place I’m in at that time. The older you get you try to be a better person.”
Words: Phil Lanning
Images: Taylor Lanning
