Essendon takes on Footscray tomorrow for a spot in the VFL Preliminary Final.

These are the burning questions.

What difference will the Bomber big guns make?

Essendon will welcome back some heavy artillery this weekend and it’s won’t just be on the field.  Hayden Skipworth and Paul Corrigan will be in the coaches box after the AFL side’s season ended last weekend.

On the playing front, Shaun McKernan’s inclusion is significant.  He was a dominant VFL player throughout the season and even led the J.J. Liston Medal count at the half way point of the year.

Orazio Fantasia will also be full of confidence after his impressive showing against Collingwood and Conor McKenna has been a handy goal kicker for the vfl side all season.

How good are the VFL listed players?

Just five AFL listed players took the field last weekend against Casey and such is the strength of the Bombers VFL list, the side was still able to get the win.

Midfielder Daniel Coghlan has been in a rich vein of form all-season and kicked a brilliant goal from 60 metres out on the boundary line last week.

Former Essendon AFL player Kyle Hardingham was recognised for his brilliant season with selection in the VFL Team of the Year.  Former Brisbane Lion James Polkinghorne’s strong body has also been important throughout the season.

What does a successful year in the VFL actually mean?

A premiership for Footscray last year certainly provided a launching pad for the Western Bulldogs this season.

Paul Chapman said the VFL flag Geelong won in 2002 helped establish the great Cats era in the AFL that resulted in three premierships.

So while VFL Finals success doesn’t provide any guarentees, it can certainly play a key role in fast tracking the development of certain players.

Essendon beat St Kilda to win the Reserves Grand Final in 1999 and we all know what happened in 2000.

Essendon’s team from the 1999 Reserves Grand Final: Aaron Henneman, Daniel McAlister, Adam Ramanauskas, Mark McVeigh, Jason Johnson, Judd Lalich, Ben Doolan, Jordan Doering, Simon Eastaugh (capt), Ilija Grgic, Sean Denham, Matthew Banks, Chris Ladhams, Danny Jacobs, Ben Haynes, Stephen Milne, Shane Sheppard, Ben Collins, Andrew Dimattina