Priestly : Picking Mardle for Premier League was a Mistake

dionsiseire

Interesting to see this come from Dennis of all people but he's dead dead right

Dennis Priestley believes Wayne Mardle should never have been chosen for this year's Premier League.

Mardle was handed a wildcard entry into the 2009 tournament alongside Jelle Klaasen, but struggled to find his form and won only one match in the first nine weeks of the Premier League.

A difficult competition for the world number nine then came to an abrupt end when he was diagnosed with mumps and forced to withdraw.

Former world champion Priestley, who appeared in a Sheffield challenge match in Mardle's absence last week, feels 'Hawaii 501' should have been given some time away from the spotlight to deal with his "demons".

"Wayne Mardle's a lovely fella, but they keep putting him into the cauldron," Priestley told skysports.com.

"He's not been ready this year, his darts haven't been good and it's not been fair on him.

"It's alright saying the public want him but he has demons in his own mind as well. He's been upset with his game and he probably didn't need this year's Premier League.

"They always pick Wayne Mardle for some strange reason. I think it's because they always want somebody who's going to finish last all of the time."
Return

'The Menace' was in contention for a return to the Premier League after a strong season in 2008, but he says he did not feel more disappointed than anybody else not to be chosen.

However Prisetley, who lost to his old rival Phil Taylor in last Thursday's challenge match, feels the selection process - which consists of the top six players in the world rankings and two wildcard choices - could be improved.

He said: "I wasn't disappointed because I knew the criteria, it's the top six and two picks.

"Yes, I was disappointed not to be one of the picks, but there will be a lot of others who were disappointed.

"I've made it plain that I don't think there should be picks, I think it should be the top eight and that's it.

"Jelle Klaasen's done great. He didn't do so well first off but then he started doing really good and I really enjoyed his game in Nottingham.

"But he's 28th in the world and he's 28th in the world for a reason; because there's 27 that have been better over the last two years."

End

Priestley has made it clear that he would like to see the end of wildcard picks and he wants the top eight players in the world to be given Premier League spots.

The Yorkshireman is currently ranked eighth in the world and he insists he is now setting his sights on qualification for next year's tournament.

He said: "It should be the top eight unless something remarkable happens in the world championship. If somebody wins that who's not in the top eight then they should be automatic.

"The players would appreciate that more than the way it's done now.

"I've said many times that if I'm in the top eight and I'm not picked I will be very, very disappointed."

ratinakeg

dionsiseire wrote: »

Interesting to see this come from Dennis of all people but he's dead dead right

Cheers dionsiseire!

Couldn't agree more!

Kingp35

he is 100% right. It should be the top 8 players in the world, the wildcard system is a bit of a joke really. I can understand Mardle because he was ranked 8th in the world when the picks were made but picking Klaasen who is 28th in the world was a bit much! Ironically he has been the better of the two but still not good enough. There are much better players out there than Klaasen.

It should be the top 8 in the world!

Double Top

Kingp35 wrote: »

he is 100% right. It should be the top 8 players in the world, the wildcard system is a bit of a joke really. I can understand Mardle because he was ranked 8th in the world when the picks were made but picking Klaasen who is 28th in the world was a bit much! Ironically he has been the better of the two but still not good enough. There are much better players out there than Klaasen.

It should be the top 8 in the world!

your spot on there King, could agree with you more. top 8 should have been in it. i said form the start that mardle and klassen were mistake's and they were proved, it's like putting the top six premier league teams in a league and then throwing in two blue square team's for fun. fair play to priestly for saying what none of the other players had the guts to do

iseethelight

It's probably time for it to be the top 8. I could understand wildcards before when there may have big names in the BDO to tempt, but there are no real big names to come across now. Perhaps the top 7 and a wildcard for world championships.

Degag

TBH, i disagree with you guys... Barney got a wild card when he first joined the PDC and it made for probably the most enjoyable and exciting year of the League so far. In my opinion, it's nice to see matches that you might not normally see... lets face it, matches between the top 8 are fairly regular... throw Anderson or Webster etc. into the mix and you've a much more enjoyable league. It gives you matches that you've never seen before.

dionsiseire

You have a point degag but whats new and enjoyable about the place mardle gets every year

Wild Cards are meant to be that, WILD, Klassen was a proper wildcard, Mardle, EVERY YEAR, has no been

Evolution Enter

I have to say, once Klassen settled, he's contributed to the league, and he is a former world champ so he justifiable as a "WILD" card as dionsiseire said!!

Mardle, even though he's in the top eight when he picked, just doesn't cut it week in week out, and he's had his chance

This league, I've enjoyed less than any league in the last few years, and it's down to the players

Degag

dionsiseire wrote: »

You have a point degag but whats new and enjoyable about the place mardle gets every year

Wild Cards are meant to be that, WILD, Klassen was a proper wildcard, Mardle, EVERY YEAR, has no been

Totally agree about Mardle.

Carrickman

Seeing that Mardle had to drop out this year Sky will probably give him a wild card next year to make up for it!

dionsiseire

Doubtful, i think they will keep klassen and bring in anderson