Owen Binks has opened up about the nerves and anxieties he's feeling as he prepares to step into a high-profile on-stage refereeing role on the PDC circuit, replacing the legendary George Noble. Binks, who has long worked as a marker and spotter behind the scenes, admitted in an interview with Tungsten Tales that the reality of calling matches on darts' biggest stages hasn't fully sunk in yet. "It's not actually sunk in yet, I don't think," Binks said. "The fact that I'm going to be calling the action on the main stage has literally always been a dream of mine. Even hearing it still hasn't quite sunk in."
The transition comes after George Noble stepped away following decades as one of darts' defining voices, with his final PDC match being the 2026 World Darts Championship final. Binks revealed he was told just before the Grand Slam that he would be Noble's replacement, once Noble confirmed his departure. "I'd been telling George for years," Binks said about their conversations. "I was saying, 'George, surely you don't need to do this anymore.' I'd been telling him to retire for ages." He added that Noble would always respond with "It's coming, mate. Don't worry," and described Noble as "the GOAT" who was "still brilliant even towards the end."
Despite his excitement, Binks is grappling with very specific fears as he approaches his first Premier League appearance in Nottingham. "I've got this horrible feeling that I'm going to go in there and the first three darts are going to hit the board, and I'll call them wrong," he confessed. "I've got family and friends coming to Nottingham. I keep thinking, imagine if I called the first three darts wrong. It's not even a checkout. Imagine calling a six when it's 60, or calling 100 when it's miles off." He even worries about fundamental failures: "I've even got this thing in my head like, what if I suddenly forget how to count?"
Binks acknowledges the pressure is amplified by his existing public profile from his work with numbers, scoring, and analysis. "The support has been amazing, but it's also added pressure," he said. "I do videos about numbers, so if I make a mistake, people will say I'm a fake." He also noted the freelance nature of the role adds to the uncertainty: "I could turn up, it could go wrong, and I never ref again. There's no contract. I've been given the opportunity and it's down to me now."
To cope, Binks is leaning on his ability to hyper-focus—a trait he links to his ADHD—and advice from fellow referees. He spoke with Charlie Corstophine, who told him, "It's just a dartboard. You're comfortable in front of a dartboard," and Kirk, who basically told him to "shut up and stop being stupid." Binks also maintains his busy workload, continuing as a spotter for Sky and with MODUS, saying, "I like working. I like earning money, and I don't really like having days off." As he looks ahead to refereeing at the World Championships next year, he concluded, "That doesn't feel real yet," balancing the nerves with the dream coming true.
