Let me begin by saying: To anyone who had Pendles as captain this week, we're sorry. He was our captain too, and as you'll all know by now, whoever the donors pick is guaranteed to do sh!thouse, so its always best to pick someone else.
What makes things worse, is that at this rate I'm going to run out of analogies for this team very soon. Anyone with any ideas, can you please post them in the comments, to help keep me going.

The donors did manage to break 2,000 points this week. We had a lovely little rollercoaster of scores, ranging from 16 to 141.
For round 7 we scored a total of 2,036 points.
We had a ranking of 62,719 for the week.
Our aggregate score is 14,420 for season 2015.
In the overall standings, we're at 35,273.

Now lets have a look at our rollercoaster team, with all the ups and downs that were involved.

Defence:
H Shaw 118
J Newnes 95
J Gibson 83
K Kolodjashnij 81
A Oxley 64
B Smith 16
Bench of K McIntosh 61 (emergency), and A Saad 0.
Cheater did well, Newnes wasn't as disappointing as he's been this year, and Smith is clearly the best trade we've made all year! A total of 102 points spread across our defensive players this week, with the highs of Shaw, the lows of Smith, and the loops of Newnes and Oxley. We probably wouldn't have made the selection, even those he has been a disgrace since joining the side, but benching Smith and bringing McIntosh into the team would have given us an extra 45 points this week.

Midfield:
D Beams 141
JP Kennedy 122
P Dangerfield 116
N Krakouer 104
T Miller 98
S Pendlebury 85 (C, 170)
A Vandenberg 37
P Cripps 0
Bench of J Nelson 46, D McKenzie 31 (emergency in place of Cripps), and C Ellis-Yolmen 0.
There were some high points in the middle run of our rollercoaster, with Beams, JPK, and Danger all doing the job we expect of them. Krak and Touk were the smooth bends at the top of each section of the coaster, where you get to take a breather and see whats coming up next. Up next was not pretty, as there was a huge and rapid drop to our cursed captain, VDB, and Cripps, who decided to not even bother turning up! Luckily we used our newly recruited DPP (swapped with Saad) as our midfield emergency, who didn't score many points himself. If there was ever a written example of a rollercoaster, it would look something like that! Astute team selection would have seen Nelson as the emergency, and Beams as the captain, giving us an extra 102 points through the mids this week.

Rucks:
T Goldstein 98
N Naitanui 75
Bench of M Cox 0
Same old, same old, only this week both rucks did rather average. NicNat played in a game with, what seemed to me like, a million ball-ups, only he seemed to let Sinclair take a huge number of the contests, which seriously hampered his scoring potential. Goldy on the other hand, started the round as our VC, and when he failed to break the ton is was obvious that our cursed captain would come back into play.

Forwards:
R Gray 134
D Swan 130
T Mitchell 128
D Martin 96
M Bontempelli 83
C Salem 16
Bench of M Clark 53 (emergency) and J McGrath 0.
We come to the end of our rollercoaster, and it looks just like the middle. There were some huge scores from Gray, Swan, and the new-recruit Titch, a couple of average scores from Dustbin and Bont, and the dip of all dips from Salem, going from 117 points last week, to only 16 points this week! Once again, we wouldn't have done it, but swapping him out for Clark would have given us an extra 37 points.

All up there were 184 points that went begging this week. If we had taken advantage of them, we would have seen 2,220 for the round, which could have had us placed at an equal 9,351st place for the week. What might have been...

Trades:
This week we made the cookie-cutter trades, dropping Heeney and Hogan for McKenzie and Mitchell. Seeing as Heeney and Hogaaannn didn't play, it was a clear win for the round, 159 points and $100,500.
Across the entire season we're doing relatively well, aside from one trade, which has absolutely burned us! On an aggregate points basis, not including benched players, we're 964 points ahead through our trades, and a total of $89,500 in cash up on where we started. The big anchor on that figure is the Wines to Smith trade prior to round 4, which has netted us 196 points, due to Wines not taking the field, but it has cost us $159,500 in team value!

<table border='1' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='0' width='533' style='width: 399.9pt; margin-left: 4.65pt; border: none;]
<tbody>
<tr style='height: 15pt;]
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<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]Round

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 56.4pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]Out

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]Value

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]In

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]Value

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 69.2pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]Total Points

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 66.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]Total Value



<tr style='height: 15pt;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 42.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]Overall

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 56.4pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 69.2pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]964

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 66.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]89,500



<tr style='height: 15pt;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 42.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]3

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 56.4pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]T Lamb

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]117,300

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]J McGrath

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]117,300

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 69.2pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]54

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 66.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]47,400



<tr style='height: 15pt;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 42.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]3

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 56.4pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]C Blakely

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]117,300

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]J Nelson

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]117,300

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 69.2pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]137

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 66.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]43,600



<tr style='height: 15pt;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 42.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]4

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 56.4pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]J Bartel

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]549,000

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]D Swan

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]501,800

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 69.2pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]378

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 66.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]-6,400



<tr style='height: 15pt;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 42.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]4

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 56.4pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]O Wines

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]535,400

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]B Smith

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]524,900

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 69.2pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]196

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 66.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]-159,500



<tr style='height: 15pt;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 42.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]5

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 56.4pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]N Brown

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]167,700

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]N Krakouer

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]106,900

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 69.2pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]40

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 66.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]63,900



<tr style='height: 15pt;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 42.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]7

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 56.4pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]I Heeney

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]234,600

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]D McKenzie

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]117,300

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 69.2pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]31

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 66.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]45,700



<tr style='height: 15pt;]
<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 42.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]7

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 56.4pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]J Hogan

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]318,500

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]T Mitchell

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 48pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]405,600

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 69.2pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]128

<td valign='bottom' style='height: 15pt; width: 66.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; border-style: none solid solid none; border-top-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;]
<p style='margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;]54,800






Lets hope that Smith can show his worth to the team, otherwise we might have to cut our losses. While we're hoping, praying, and dreaming, please spare a though for our captain selections, as they keep hurting us each week! I promise to post a comment in the Captain Obvious blog each week from now on, letting everyone know who we've selected, so that you can all avoid the curse of the Donor Team Captain.

Please join us in the Donor forum during the week, to discuss the trades for this round. There's sure to be some lively discussions....