The case for Damon Heta: Why the Premier League Darts needs an added bit of extra “Heat”

Many will be split on whether Australia’s number 1 Damon Heta should be included in the 2025 iteration of the Premier League. I am in the camp that firmly believes he deserves to have a shot this upcoming season. I understand the naysayers will point to disappointing campaigns in the majors, with just a Semi Final appearance in the UK of note in 2024, which of course is a non traditional draw bracket (though did beat Littler in the Quarter Finals) but there are benefits to both Heta and the PDC should "The Heat” participate in this year’s biggest exhibition…

Why the Premier League is good for Heta

Damon Heta has all the ingredients of a top 4 player. However, we have never really seen the best of the Aussie number 1 on a consistent basis on the big stage in the Majors. We do however see impressive performances and averages over best of 11 leg formats.

2024 saw early ranking tournament exits to Searle (Matchplay Rd 1), de Decker (Grand Prix Rd1), Pietreckzo (European Championships Rd 1) and Humphries in the Players Championship Finals. To date, Heta only has 1 major Semi Final to his name in the form of the 2024 UK Open which of course doesn’t follow a conventional format (though did beat Littler in the Quarters there).

We consistently see flashes and spells of great stuff from Heta on the stage, but for some reason or another, he buckles or flattens out during the game and gets pipped at the post and cannot recover from a mid-game slumber in games that go further than the standard on the floor events/Euro Tour.

So why would a gruelling multi month exhibition tournament be good for Heta?

Firstly, he has the game to beat anyone else that is selected in the tournament and the short format offers a chance for Heta to get big wins over the big players, something we see consistently on the floor events, with 2 Players Championship Titles in each of the last 3 years including 3 quarter finals in the last 4 events of 2024 and 5 in the last 10.

He has found himself in the last session of Euro Tour events 11 times over the last 2 years (26 total events) where at this stage, you start to run into the big guns and then comes a cropper.

I do concede that his record against the big guns in all tournaments is far from exemplary; Humphries has 9 wins to his 1, 1 win against Littler in 5 games, has 6 wins vs van Gerwen’s 9 so I understand if you’re currently thinking “I thought this was supposed to sell me on Heta being in the Premier League?!”

I believe the adage that “iron sharpens iron” comes into play here and that giving Heta experience on a more consistent basis against the big guns and adding a few wins in this tournament would help him get to the next level. Consistently being thrown in with the big boys I believe will help confidence, consistency which should lead to more favourable returns in terms of wins if playing against the best is normalised for him.

His stats are up there in terms of averages (8th), 180s (11th) / 180s per leg (T-15th), checkout % (1st) in the last 12 months and putting him in the cauldron of the Premier League, he’s going to have to continually grind, these can improve further or at the very least prove competitive in this sphere.

Let’s not forget he’s not been plying his trade on these shores for that long a time. After winning the World Series of Darts back in 2019, he has slowly committed more and more to the game which led to him packing his things up from down under and moving to the UK.

That’s one reason why Heta shouldn’t struggle with the rigours of the tournament, he’s a bit of a nomad anyway. He’s travelled with the PDC for the World Series events down under in Australia and New Zealand and never misses any Euro Tour events, which now fall on weekends on top of midweek Players Championship events.

Why Damon Heta is good for the Premier League

First and foremost, I think many are getting fatigued (already) with the current format of the Premier League. It’s the same matches with same players for 16 weeks so therefore, you need a new face or two to freshen things up and give us something different to look at whilst being mindful that you dont want the same players winning every week by diluting the quality of the field.

Heta’s ability and talent especially in a short format means that he wouldn’t look out of place. He passes the eye test for a Premier League spot. His 9 darter at the World Championship will stick in the memory and fans will attach that memory to him. He can have spells or “bursts” as they like to be called now which can blow anyone away, including Luke Littler.

Secondly, he’s marketable. You cannot avoid his head-wear that he now dons on his walk ons, regardless of whether its a bit OTT or not. On that note, the PDC will probably also want to sell some of his “headgear”, trying to fill the void of Snakebite wigs that about a third of paying customers seem to buy. If you are someone that watches the Euro Tour, you’ll know that Heta has different walk ons relevant to the country/area he is playing in.

More importantly, Damon Heta is a fun player to watch which is the vital ingredient for the Premier League. He engages with the crowd and enjoys giving some back to the rabble sat at the tables. He wears his heart on his sleeve for the most part of every game; celebrating the big scores and showing despair when missing multiple darts at a double at the critical points in a match and we ride that rollercoaster with him.

Whilst I think even he would find it hard to nuance his walk ons to accommodate most of the UK cities, I do think he could put the cat amongst the pigeons in places like Belfast, Dublin, Berlin and Rotterdam and give us something worthy of the circus that is the Premier League, especially if they plan on binning off Nathan Aspinall, who has one of the greatest walk ons (and SkySports will not entertain anything else to the contrary).

Of course there is a scenario where if he gets picked, he struggles and finds it hard to recover like many former participants have done. However, I think Heta has shown enough (and won enough despite his poor major form) over the past 2 years to be given a chance to see if he runs with it.

For me it’s a case of when, not if “Damo” finds himself amongst the elite in the Premier League.

Let me know your thoughts, I can be found on X @MrFlightside