ANZ PREMIER LEAGUE · NIGHT THREE

Cuming close, but Pusey takes Melbourne

By Wade Cockfield | 11 October 2026

Put Pusey and Cuming on the same scoreboard and the pub jokes practically write themselves. Thankfully, the darts gave us plenty to talk about too.

Tim Pusey edged Mal “The Bull” Cuming 5-4 at Margaret Court Arena on Saturday to win Night Three of the Dabble Darts ANZ Premier League.

Two very different roads to the final

Pusey’s night could easily have ended in the quarter-finals. Ben Robb took him all the way to a deciding leg, with Pusey surviving after missing three match darts. He then beat Raymond Smith 5-3 in the semi-final before another nine-leg contest in the final.

Cuming’s route was considerably tidier. He beat Jonny Tata 5-2, then whitewashed defending champion Simon Whitlock 5-0. Across those first two matches, the Bull conceded just two legs. Pusey had conceded seven.

That is what made the final such a good pairing: one player who had been pushed to the limit, against another arriving after a dominant semi-final. It finished with the narrowest possible margin in a first-to-five match.

Cuming is a familiar face around the Port Phillip Darts League. He won both the singles and doubles titles at its 2024 winter grand finals at St Kilda Sports Club, giving local darters another reason to cheer him on at Margaret Court Arena.

Pusey found double 10 with the second dart of his winning visit to seal his first nightly title of the 2026 competition. Cuming had reached his first ANZ Premier League final, but the last double belonged to the West Australian.

Three of the night’s seven matches went to deciding legs. Alongside Pusey’s quarter-final and the final, Raymond Smith needed all nine legs to get past Joe Comito. The scorelines alone tell you how little separated several of these players.

A rivalry worth keeping an eye on

There is already a useful little storyline running through Pusey and Cuming’s season. In Canberra, Cuming beat Pusey 5-3 in the quarter-finals. In Adelaide, Pusey returned the favour with a 5-3 semi-final win. Melbourne gave them a final, and Pusey won that one by a single leg.

Pusey has now made back-to-back finals, having lost 5-2 to Tata in Adelaide. Cuming, meanwhile, has reached at least the semi-finals at every round. That consistency puts him third on seven points, one behind Pusey and two behind leader Raymond Smith.

It is worth remembering how the points work: a quarter-final exit earns none, a semi-final earns two, the runner-up gets three and the nightly winner takes five. Smith and Pusey each have five match wins; Cuming has four. The table rewards both winning nights and regularly making the business end.

Next stop: Auckland

The next stop is Auckland on Friday 16 October, with Cuming facing Smith and Pusey meeting Brody Klinge. Tata plays Comito, while Whitlock takes on Robb. Newcastle follows, with its draw seeded after Auckland.

Only two qualifying nights remain before the top four head to the Brisbane finals. Three nights down, three different winners, and a proper scrap developing for those four places.

Cuming came close in Melbourne. Pusey finished the job.

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