ESSENDON has taken another giant step towards securing a top eight berth and finals action for just the second time in the past seven years, but coach James Hird is solely focused on continuing to develop his young team.

Speaking after the Bombers recorded a 49-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium - and in the process jumped to seventh and a game-and-a-half clear of ninth-placed Fremantle - Hird refused to be drawn on the prospect of the Bombers' finals aspirations.

"I'm not sure how far we are in the eight or what other teams have to do and we haven't looked at that a lot because we have to keep teaching," he said.

"Whether or not we make the eight this year... in 18 months time we want to keep coaching and teaching so we do become a good team."

It was the even spread of contributors in Essendon's tenth win of the season that pleased Hird the most, with 13 individual goalkickers, including four each to Michael Hurley and Alwyn Davey. Such numbers reflect the sides effectiveness in the forward half, which allowed them to easily outscore the Bulldogs despite having six fewer forward 50 entries compared.

"It was even across the board. Our team is not built on superstars it is built on all-round effort across the board and I think that was another reasonably good performance tonight," Hird said.

Essendon started the game in blistering fashion, with the Bombers recording a kicking efficiency of 85 per cent in the first half. Brent Stanton (39 possessions) and David Zaharakis (27 possessions) set the tone early.

"Our ability to kick the ball well early got us the goals because the contested ball was going the Western Bulldogs way, the inside-50s and time in forward half was also going their way," he said.

"We used the ball relatively well and that enabled us to score. That's a big plus for our guys... they're kicking the ball really well."

Holding a 55-point lead early in the third quarter, the Bombers had to withstand a Bulldogs revival, reducing the margin to less than four goals on the back of 16 consecutive inside-50 entries.

Hird admitted his young side couldn't afford similar lapses of concentration in the future and praised the resilience of his backline.

"The third quarter wasn't the highlight of our year, that's for sure," he said.

"If you look at the stats [in terms of time in forward half and inside 50s] the Bulldogs had us there, but our backline was pretty resilient and played well for us."

"[But] it still shows we have to work on our defence all over the ground."

Hird and his men now look to Perth and hope to cause a boilover with a win over West Coast at Patersons Stadium.

"We have been really strong this year about improving our players. We will go over to Perth in seven days time and play the game we want to try and play it," he said.

"We'll defend, we'll attack, we'll try and win the ball and use it the way we have been teaching our players and if we do that we'll see what happens."