THE SON of Essendon champion and 1993 Norm Smith medallist Michael Long will make his debut for the Bombers this weekend against Gold Coast.

Jake Long, having been elevated to the club's senior list, has been included to take on the Suns on Sunday at Etihad Stadium after some impressive VFL form.

"I'm pretty excited and relieved and happy for me and my family and the club, just really excited," Long told the club's website.

"We're a tight knit group at the Bombers."

The 20-year-old joined the Bombers at the 2014 NAB AFL Rookie Draft but has been a project player in the past two seasons, working through different injury concerns to gradually build his form.

He is wiry but fast and talented, and has shown some exciting signs playing across half-forward for the Bombers previously in NAB Challenge contests.

His father played 190 games for the Bombers between 1989-2001, including the 1993 and 2000 premierships. He is considered one of the all-time great Indigenous players.

Michael is based in Darwin but was in Melbourne earlier this week for a knee operation, with Jake hopeful his family around Australia will be tuning into the game.

'Whoever comes down, I'll be happy that they’re watching me – all the people up in Darwin, people around South Australia, central Northern Territory – my family are all around," Long said.

"I hope they’ll be watching on the TV or down at Etihad."

The Bombers are aiming to turnover their list of youngsters in the next three weeks, with coach John Worsfold admitting some of the less experienced players are starting to fatigue under the bigger workload this season.