If voting from the people who know best is any guide then Lance Franklin, Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker will head the Sydney Swans vote count in the 2017 AFL Brownlow Medal on Monday night.

Franklin, Kennedy and Parker were the Swans leading vote-getters in the AFL Coach’s Association Player of the Year Award in which each coach votes on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis after each match in the home-and-away season.

Franklin, the only Swans player chosen in the All-Australian side, polled 62 votes to finish just outside the top 10 in the Leigh Matthews Trophy, won by Richmond’s Dustin Martin (122) from Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield (118), Adelaide’s Rory Sloane (78), Essendon’s Zach Merrett (77), Hawthorn’s Tom Mitchell (76) and GWS’s Josh Kelly (75).

Completing the top 10 were Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver (71), Adelaide’s Matt Crouch (68), St Kilda’s Seb Ross (68) and Brisbane’s Dayne Zorko (68).

Kennedy (58) and Parker (54) were next best among Sydney players from Dan Hannebery (28), Isaac Heeney (22), Dane Rampe (21) and Sam Reid (20).

Other Sydney vote-getters were Jake Lloyd (18), Zak Jones (17), Tom Papley (15), Gary Rohan (13), Nic Newman (13), Heath Grundy (11), Callum Sinclair (10), Lewis Melican (5), Kieren Jack (4), George Hewett (3), Callum Mills (1), Nick Smith (1) and Dean Towers (1).

Significantly, Kennedy, widely considered desperately unlucky to miss the All-Australian team after being included in the preliminary 40-man squad, was among the coach’s votes 11 times.

Parker polled 10 times and Franklin nine times, followed by Heeney (6), Hannebery (5), Papley (5), Grundy (4) and Jack (4).

More significantly, Kennedy polled six or more votes in the AFLCA award seven times, which meant he was clearly rated in the best three players on the ground by the coaches.

Franklin polled six-plus votes six times and was ranked in the best three players on the ground according to the coaches seven times, while Parker polled six-plus votes five times and was in the top three players six times.

Hannebery polled only five times but four times he received six-plus and three times he was in the top three players, according to the coaches.

Most recent history says the coaches’ votes are an excellent guide after last year four of the top five in the AFLCA award finished top five in the Brownlow.

In final Coaches Association voting for 2016, it was Dangerfield (121 votes) from Sloane (93), Martin (90), Western Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli (88) and Parker (66).

And in the Brownlow in 2016 it was Dangerfield (35), Parker (26), Martin (25) and Sloan (24), with Bontempelli (20) equal eighth one vote behind Hannebery (21), Collingwood’s Adam Treloar (21) and West Coast’s Andrew Gaff (21).

The 2017 AFLCA votes send two clear messages for Swans fans looking to follow the Brownlow count.

Don’t expect much in the first six rounds, when the club started with an 0-6 record. Only six Swans players figured in the votes during the bleak start – Franklin and Kennedy twice, plus Lloyd and Reid.

But, on a more positive note, look forward to five and possibly as many as 10 games in which the Swans poll all 3-2-1 votes.

The club polled all 30 votes in the AFLCA award five times in Round 8 against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, Round 12 against Western Bulldogs at home, Round 15 against Gold Coast at home and Round 21 against Fremantle at home.

Also, the Swans polled 29 of a possible 30 Coaches Association votes in Round 9 against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, and Round 23 against Carlton at home.

And they polled 80% or more of the votes in Round 7 against Brisbane at home, Round 18 against St Kilda at home, and Round 20 against Geelong in Geelong.

Although trying to forecast Brownlow votes is always a fickle business, Kennedy and Franklin appear set to pass significant career milestones in Monday night’s vote count.

Kennedy, seventh on Sydney’s all-time Brownlow vote list with 96, will join 1959, ’63 and ‘68 winner Bob Skilton (180), 2003 and ‘06 winner Adam Goodes (163), 1949 winner Bill Clegg (121), 1940 winner Herbie Matthews (117), 1995 winner Paul Kelly (103) and Hannebery (100) in the 100 Club.

And Franklin, with 47 votes in Swans colours in a career haul of 129 votes, is set to become the 14^th member of the 50 Club.

This group, aside from those who have earned 100 Brownlow votes in red and white, includes Barry Round (90), Jude Bolton (89), Peter Bedford (81.5), Brett Kirk (81), Ryan O’Keefe (77), Jack Graham (83), Graham Teasdale (64), Greg Williams (63), Barry Hall (63), Kieren Jack (61), Daryn Cresswell (61), Dennis Carroll (58), Bill Gunn (53) Jarrad McVeigh (53), Fred Goldsmith (52), Luke Parker (52) and Jim Taylor (50).

With 21 votes Franklin could also join the AFL’s 150 Club.

To the end of 2016 this group was headed by Sam Mitchell and Gary Ablett Jr (222), Gary Dempsey (218.5), Robert Harvey (215), Chris Judd (210), Brent Harvey (191), Dane Swan (186) and Skilton (180).

Kevin Murray and Nathan Buckley (178) share 10^th spot on the all-time list, followed by Scott West (175), Leigh Matthews (173.5), Bill Hutchison (172), Joel Selwood (168), Goodes (163), Shane Crawford (159), retiring Melbourne and Adelaide midfielder Scott Thompson (155), Dick Reynolds (154), Greg Williams (154), Keith Greig (151), Scott Pendlebury (150) and Michael Voss (150).

Nick Riewoldt (149), Matt Priddis (146) and Patrick Dangerfield (132) are also set to join the 150 Club.

And at the opposite end of the scale, Sydney fans will be hoping to see Nick Smith receive recognition, with the 2014 All-Australian defender on track to become the AFL player who has played most games without registering a Brownlow vote.

At the end of 2016 Tom Lonergan (186) topped this field, followed by Smith, the retired Ross Henshaw (167) and Zac Dawson.

Smith has taken his games tally to 191, while Lonergan will play his 209^th and possibly last game for Geelong in the preliminary final on Friday night. Dawson has retired this year on 166 games.

Amazingly, Smith is one of 24 players among the 35 who played for the Swans in the AFL this year who have never polled a Brownlow vote. The others are Aliir Aliir, Harry Cunningham, George Hewett, Brandon Jack, Zak Jones, Jeremy Laidler, Jake Lloyd, Harry Marsh, Callum Mills, Sam Naismith, Tom Papley, Dan Robinson, Gary Rohan, James Rose, Dean Towers and Callum Sinclair, plus 2017 debutants Jordan Dawson, Oliver Florent, Jordan Foote, Robbie Fox, Will Hayward, Lewis Melican and Nic Newman.

Behind Franklin, Hanneberry, Kennedy, Kieren Jack, McVeigh and Parker, Kurt Tippett is next on the 2017 player list with 22 votes from what is now 178 games, including seven in 74 games for the Swans.

Isaac Heeney has seven votes in 58 games, Sam Reid four in 120 games, Heath Grundy three in 237 games and Dane Rampe two in 115 games.

Four players have completely dominated the Swans voting in the last three years. Kennedy has polled 60 votes in that period (21-25-14), followed by Hannebery with 56 (11-24-21), Parker with 47 (12-9-26) and Franklin on 47 (22-8-17).