[5] It was only on 29 January that the teams were confirmed, over two months later than usual, with the addition of Eastern Stars creating an eight-team league for the season ahead.
[6] The fixtures throughout the season were a little irregular, especially for WNB Tavur, who were based in the New Guinea islands, and thus incurred higher travel costs than most other teams.
[8] Tavur ended up drawing with Eastern Stars in their opening fixture, before playing back-to-back away matches on 20, 23 and 28 February to catch up to the rest of the schedule – all three of which they lost.
[2] By the end of February, after four fixtures played, Hekari led the table with four wins from four ahead of Besta PNG United – who had dropped points after a 1–1 draw with FC Port Moresby on match-day four – on ten.
Moresby's challenge suffered another dent the following week when they were awarded a 3–0 away defeat against WNB Tavur, as they were unable to make the journey to the New Guinea islands.
[9] On 20 April, Besta finally went top after a 5–1 win over Gigira Laitepo Morobe,[10] while FC Port Moresby's 4–3 victory over Welgris Highlanders took them within one point of Hekari, having played four games more.
[11] Hekari returned to Papua New Guinea in late April, with one home fixture in the group stages of the OFC Champions League remaining, having already been eliminated.