Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has made no secret of the fact his side was chasing much-needed percentage in its 87-point thumping of Essendon.

Leading by 39 points at the major break, the Bulldogs put the foot down to kick 11 second-half goals to the Bombers' one in the second half to post a convincing win at Etihad Stadium as they try to lock down a finals spot.

The Bulldogs leapfrogged Richmond into fifth spot on the ladder with a percentage of 113.1 from their 11 wins and six losses in 2015.

"We haven't had many opportunities to have big margins and today presented one," Beveridge said.

"We've spoken about it a couple of times ... let's go in for it and try to stretch it out as much as we can and all those sorts of messages.

"All the players got their heads around that and I didn't really feel like we dropped off at all."

The Bulldogs remain one game behind the fourth-placed Swans and face a seemingly rejuvenated Port Adelaide in a crucial clash at Etihad Stadium next Saturday.

Beveridge wasn't afraid to talk up the club's finals chances in his press conference on Saturday but he was more circumspect after the game against the Bombers.

"It's (the prospect of finals) there and each week that goes by, if we can win again, then we're a step closer to it," he said.

"What that looks like, who knows? But we're not there yet and there's a lot of teams in the mix to make it and we're just one of them."

The Bulldogs were aided by 15 goals shared between mid-sized forwards Stewart Crameri (seven), Jake Stringer (four) and Tory Dickson (four) in the victory over the Bombers.

Beveridge said the side's structure – and his own coaching methodology – had evolved from the start of the season.

"We're a little smaller up there (forward) at the moment," Beveridge said.

"There's a little more movement than there has been and we're not kicking it to, in the old terminology, the 'hot spot' as often as we were.

"With that you need movement but you need to be more precise with your kicks. We've got a lot better at that in the last couple of weeks. We've had a lot more inside 50 marks and we've worked really hard."

The Bulldogs kept Essendon to just five goals from 41 inside 50 entries and Beveridge was quick to praise his team defence, led by intercept-mark king Easton Wood.

He also reserved special praise for Lachie Hunter, who collected a game-high 37 disposals in a sensational performance against the Bombers.

"I've been over the moon with what he's done over the last two weeks," Beveridge said.

"He's getting a lot of the ball, but even that courage going back with the flight in the third quarter that just highlights it's not just a possession game for him at the moment.

"The challenge for him and the rest of his teammates is to try to reach for that sort of performance every week."