AFL captains have voted Sydney Swan Dan Hannebery as one of the top contenders for the 2016 Brownlow Medal, while they believe Callum Mills could be a strong chance for the AFL Rising Star award.

The poll was conducted on the eve of the AFL’s official season launch, with the 18 club captains casting their vote on five key questions.

The Swans received 14 of a possible 17 votes to once again make the finals in 2016, with each captain not able to vote on their own side.

Fremantle, Geelong, Hawthorn and West Coast were the four teams voted upon unanimously by the captains to make the 2016 finals series.

A total of 12 different clubs were named as possible chances to contest finals and six different clubs were considered for a Grand Final berth.

Just one captain selected the Swans to feature in the Grand Final with a rematch of the 2015 Grand Final the common prediction between Hawthorn (7 votes) and West Coast (5 votes).

Young Swan Callum Mills was the top pick among the captains to take out the Rising Star award.

The 19-year-old was taken with pick No. 3 in the National Draft and has been impressive across halfback during the Swans pre-season campaign.

Lance Franklin was the second most popular pick to take out the Coleman Medal with four votes, while Dan Hannebery received three votes to take out the 2016 Brownlow Medal.

The full voting was:

Which seven other clubs do you think can make this year's top eight? (18 times seven selections.)

Fremantle (17), Geelong Cats (17), Hawthorn (17), West Coast (17), Sydney Swans (14), Port Adelaide (12), Richmond (7), North Melbourne (6), GWS Giants (6), Western Bulldogs (6), Adelaide Crows (4), Collingwood (3)

Which other club is most likely to reach the Grand Final? (11 Captains picked eventual premier Hawthorn in 2015)

Hawthorn (7), West Coast (5), Fremantle (3), Geelong Cats (1), Richmond (1), Sydney Swans (1).

Who do you think will win the 2016 Brownlow Medal? (Four captains correctly nominated Nat Fyfe in 2015).

Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong Cats, four votes), Gary Ablett (Gold Coast Suns, three votes), Nat Fyfe (Fremantle, three votes), Dan Hannebery (Sydney Swans, three votes), Josh Kennedy (Sydney Swans, one vote), Tom Liberatore (Western Bulldogs, one vote), Dustin Martin (Richmond, one vote), Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood, one vote), Luke Shuey (West Coast, one vote).

Who do you think will win the 2016 Coleman Medal? (One captain correctly nominated Josh Kennedy in 2015).

Josh Kennedy (West Coast, seven votes), Lance Franklin (Sydney Swans, four votes), Tom Hawkins (Geelong Cats, two votes), Taylor Walker (Adelaide Crows, two votes), Jeremy Cameron (GWS Giants, one vote), Charlie Dixon (Port Adelaide, one vote), Jack Riewoldt (Richmond, two votes).
 
Who do you think will win the 2016 NAB AFL Rising Star? (No captain correctly nominated Jesse Hogan in 2015).

Callum Mills (Sydney Swans, seven votes), Clayton Oliver (Melbourne, three votes), Darcy Moore (Collingwood, two votes), Jacob Weitering (Carlton, two votes), Callum Ah Chee (Gold Coast Suns, one vote), Wayne Milera (Adelaide Crows, one vote), Christian Petracca (Melbourne, one vote), Josh Schache (Brisbane Lions, one vote).