Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is confident his side can go all the way this season, despite an arduous path that will take them from Melbourne through Launceston, Brisbane and Adelaide to Perth for the grand final, should they progress.

It might have been 6203 days since Essendon won a final, but it was only 20 days since the Western Bulldogs were sitting on top of the ladder and they weren’t about to capitulate at the first hurdle at Launceston’s UTAS Stadium on Sunday.

Having led by three points at half-time, the Bulldogs piled on eight goals to none in the second half as they dominated a wet slog to coast to a 49-point victory, 13.7 (85) to 4.12 (36).

It was a seventh consecutive finals loss for the tortured Bombers, who have not tasted finals success since 2004.

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And it was the first finals win for the Bulldogs since their 2016 premiership as they snapped a three-match losing streak to book a semifinal berth against Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday.

Essendon didn’t look out of their depth early as the Bulldogs rode their luck. Five of the Dogs’ first seven goals came from free kicks, some of them dubious, as small forward Cody Weightman kicked all four of his majors from free kicks.

Midfield duo Jack Macrae and Tom Liberatore had 71 disposals and 15 clearances between them, as the Bulldogs dominated centre clearances 14-7 despite the ruck control of Essendon’s Sam Draper.

The Dogs onballers relished the slippery conditions, smashing the Bombers 102-68 in the second-half contested ball count.

Beveridge said the Bulldogs have proven they’re “good enough” to get the job done against this year’s best clubs.

“I suppose if you look at the teams who are still in it, we didn’t beat Geelong but that was after the siren. I think we’ve beaten the other four,” Beveridge said.

“So that recent history gives you that understanding that you’re good enough.

“It’s probably a new version of us with some personnel changes here and there, particularly the ruck situation and particularly that key forward area with losing Brucey (Josh Bruce).

“Our guys have been unbelievably good on the road this year. So travel doesn’t concern us and our guys will look at it as an exciting opportunity.”

Essendon midfielder Darcy Parish, who finished with 35 touches and 10 clearances, played one of the great finals quarters in the second term as rain tumbled, racking up 16 touches, six clearances and 1.1 as Jake Stringer’s second major just before half-time kept the Bombers in touch in a low-scoring scrap.

Aaron Naughton capitalised for the Bulldogs after Dylan Shiel was pinged for deliberate when his soccer skidded over the boundary line, while Weightman was even luckier after an incredulous Draper was penalised for high contact for an incidental brush when he didn’t even appear to know his smaller opponent was next to him.

The Bulldogs put the space in the game in the third quarter when they kicked three goals to none, with Parish kept on a tight leash by Josh Dunkley and Weightman taking advantage of two free kicks from Martin Gleeson to kick his third and fourth majors.

Josh Schache, who played forward, kicked his second as the Dogs built a game-high 20-point lead. Handed a 50m penalty for a down the ground incident in the three-quarter time siren, Draper missed a crucial set shot that would have brought the Bombers to within 14 points at the final change.

Essendon coach Ben Rutten had no complaints about the Bulldogs’ free kicks in inside 50.

“It was those conditions that the team that put themselves in best position, put their head over the ball and were prepared to absorb a tackle, there’s opportunities there for free kicks,” Rutten said.

“They probably did that a fraction better than us that third quarter and it was costly for us on the scoreboard.”

Rutten said his side, which contained 10 finals debutants, would be better for the experience.

“Absolutely we came here to win. We thought we had the capacity to do that,” he said.

“But unfortunate that we weren’t able to get the result like we all wanted. That’s the price we’ve got to pay for wanting to be good and wanting to achieve something special. There’s no guarantees with it.

“Sometimes you fall a little bit short and you get disappointed. But that’s the price we’ve got to be prepared to pay, because this group and this club, we’re on a journey. We want to achieve something really special.

“We understand there’s going to be bumps along the way and tonight’s one of those.”