Only four players in South Melbourne/Sydney Swans history have won a Bob Skilton Medal and a best & fairest award at another club.

John Murphy, Tony Lockett, Gerard Healy and Wayne Schwass are those players.

If the All-Australian selectors and the umpires are any sort of judges there could be a fifth this year, Lance Franklin.

Franklin was the only Sydney player chosen in the 2018 All-Australian team, when he was recognised for his extraordinary career performance when he was named All-Australian captain.

He was also a clear leading vote-getter among Swans players in the Brownlow Medal, polling 16 votes to finish equal 12^th in the vote-count.

So, Franklin is a candidate to join the illustrious Swans group of Murphy, Lockett, Healy and Schwass after winning the Hawthorn best and fairest in 2008.

To win the Swans most prestigious award 10 years after he did so at Hawthorn would put him on an even more special pedestal, alongside only Murphy.

Murphy won the Fitzroy best and fairest in 1986-70-71-73-77 before doing likewise in his first season with the Swans in 1978 – 10 years after his first best and fairest.

Healy claimed a Swans hat-trick in 1986-87-88 after wining the Melbourne best and fairest in 1984, Lockett was Sydney Club Champion in 1995 after claiming the St.Kilda best and fairest in 1987 and 1991. And Schwass won the Bob Skilton Medal in 1999 after claiming the North Melbourne best and fairest in 1994-95.

But if Franklin is to win the 2018 Bob Skilton Medal and his first Swans Club Champion he will have to do something that no player has done in the last 28 years.

In a strong pointer to the likely winner in the vote-count on Friday night, 24 winners since 1990 have played every game that season. Two others – Josh Kennedy in 2016 and Daryn Cresswell in 1994 – played all but one game.

The outliers in this discussion are Lockett, who in 1995 played 19 of a possible 22 games (and still kicked 110 goals), and Paul Williams, who in 2002 also missed three games.

Franklin this year missed four games, playing 19 of 23 in a campaign in which by the admission of coach John Longmire he barely trained due to recurring injury problems.

The 2018 Skilton Medal will be presented at the Star Events Centre on Friday night.

Votes have been awarded after each game this season by the coaching staff.

There is no limit on the number of players who can figure in the votes in each game. There is a maximum of 10 votes per player from each of five judges, making for a maximum per game of 50 votes.

Luke Parker won the coveted award last year with 696 votes in 24 games, followed by Franklin and Jake Lloyd (650), Kennedy (580), George Hewett (571), Heath Grundy (569), Tom Papley (556), Dan Hannebery (546), Zak Jones (543) and Isaac Heeney (518).

The top 10 vote-getters all played 20 or more of a possible 24 games last year. Parker, Franklin, Hewett and Grundy played every game, and Lloyd, Hannebery and Jones missed one. Kennedy missed three and Papley and Heeney four.

The other four players with 20+ games last year were Nick Smith (24), Callum Mills (24), Sam Reid (22) and Nic Newman (20)

This year 12 players played 20 games or more from a possible 23 - Harry Cunningham, Ollie Florent, Will Hayward, Hewett, Kennedy, Lloyd, Dane Rampe and Callum Sinclair (23), Heeney and Parker (22), and Papley and Smith (20).

Franklin has had three top 10 finishes in four years in Sydney – equal 2^nd in 2017, 6^th in 2016 and 3^rd in 2014.

Four current players have won the coveted medal – Kennedy three times (2012, 2015 and 2016), Parker (2014 and 2017), Jarrad McVeigh (2008 and 2013) twice each, and Kieren Jack (2010) once.

Captain Kennedy has a remarkable record in the Skilton Medal, having finished top four in each of his eight years at the club. He was 3^rd in his first season in 2010, followed by equal 2^nd, 1^st, 3^rd, 2^nd, 1^st, 1^st and 4^th last year.

Parker has been similarly consistent in the last five years. He was 6^th in 2013 before his first win in 2014, then 7^th and 4^th before his second medal win last year.

McVeigh was a regular contender in the earlier part of his career, with nine top 10 finishes. He was equal 10^th in 2006, won the medal in 2008, 6^th in 2009, 4^th in 2010, 10^th in 2011, 5^th in 2012, won it in 2013, and was 5^th in 2014 and 2015.

Jack has seven top 10 finishes – he was 7^th in 2009 before his win in 2010, and was 4^th in 2012, 2^nd in 2013, 4^th in 2014, 3^rd in 2015 and 10^th in 2016.

Among other current players, Hannebery has had seven top 10 finishes, including 4^th in 2013 and 2^nd in 2015-16, and Smith has had six top 10 finishes, with a best of 6^th in 2011-12.

Heath Grundy also has had six top 10 finishes,  and has finished everywhere from 3^rd to 9^th except 8^th. His best finish was 3^rd in 2016. And Rampe had three top 10 finishes in a row – 9^th in 2014, 6^th in 2015 and 5^th in 2016.

Cunningham was 10^th in 2014, while Hewett, Papley, Jones and Heeney claimed their first top 10 finish last year.

Also to be presented on Friday night will be the Rising Star Award, the Dennis Carroll Award for the Most Improved Player, the Barry Round Shield for Best Clubman, and the Paul Kelly Players’ Player Award.

The presentation dinner will be streamed live on sydneyswans.com.au from 7pm or you can keep up-to-date via the club’s Official social media channels including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The official hashtag for the 2018 Sydney Swans Club Champion Event is #SkiltonMedal