James Wade rants at the clique of PDC players that get ‘looked after’ “There’s a group of players who are looked after very very well.”

Wade delivered a rant at the authorities about the clique of players who in his eyes get ‘invites’ to everything.

“There’s a group of players who are looked after very very well. They’re invited they get the invitations and other players don’t get that.

“You need to be part of a crew and a thing unless you’re part of a certain management you have to work a little bit harder and earn the opportunities rather than just being given them.

“There’s some wonderful things in darts but you need to be part of a certain team and I’m not part of that team, that’s what I mean.”

Wade’s Form

Wade lashed out at a reporter over concerns about his form, after the machine nearly missed out on the World Matchplay and he emphasised that people should not rely solely on rankings as a barometer.

“If anyone believes that my ability and how I am as a player should be on the last cusps then I can’t alter that opinion or that view. As I’ve said a million times, I wasn’t very well. I haven’t been very well for a long time. I’ve only just got over it pretty much. I was number three in the world up until two years ago. There’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that a lot of people don’t see. It’s not been a clear cut thing with what you see with my rankings and how I am. I don’t believe I’ve played particularly bad for the last 18 months. For the last three or four months I definitely haven’t played bad.”

“There are a lot of players that have had the rub of the green but you’ve also got to create the rub of the green. I believe I haven’t played bad for about three months.”