Dangerous Essendon forward Orazio Fantasia says making the finals is just the start for the Bombers, who he says can beat any of their fellow premiership contenders at their best.

Among a number of massive team performances, a run of five consecutive victories from rounds 15 to 19 – the best winning stretch at the club since 2013 – helped the Dons bounce back from a disappointing start to the season and secure the finals berth.

While Fantasia admitted the side is excited to have claimed one of the coveted positions in the finals after missing out on a spot last year, he said there is still more to come from the Bombers.

“I haven’t played a final for a little while, so to get into the finals is a great achievement, but we’re only just starting,” Fantasia said on Thursday.

“I’m going to speak on behalf of all of the boys, we’re very excited.”

Essendon has not won a final since 2004, but Fantasia said the club’s recent finals history is now irrelevant.

Fantasia’s only finals appearance was in the elimination final against Sydney in 2017. (Image: AFL Photos)

The exciting goalkicker is instead looking forward and is confident the side’s scintillating best form can take it up to any rival, starting with the reigning premier West Coast in next week’s first elimination final.

“We’re just excited for the opportunity. We can only focus on what’s coming up ahead and we’re looking forward to that.

“We got there (to the top eight), so that’s not taken lightly by any means - there are 10 teams wishing that they were in this position at the moment.

“We know our game’s good enough and when we’re on, we can beat anyone.”

A feature of the Bombers’ best football is their ability to cut up their opponents on the counterattack, pouncing on any errors with speed and dare through the corridor.

Hawthorn’s ability to both move the ball quickly and slow down the Eagles on their home turf was a key part of its upset victory in round 23, and Fantasia said Essendon will take some lessons out of that performance.

“(The Eagles’) game style is very kick-mark. If you watch the Hawthorn game, (the Hawks) were able to pin them backwards and force them (to move the ball) long down the line a lot.

“It’s going to be a focus for us to do the same thing; we want to force them to kick long down the line to our calls and then be able to come back through them.

“If we can do that, we feel like we can get some good looks going forward.”

Fantasia is looking forward to taking on the Eagles again in Perth. (Image: AFL Photos)

Much of the club’s drive is generated from its dashing defenders including speedsters Conor McKenna and Adam Saad, but Fantasia said leaving that role solely for the backmen will not be the plan at Optus Stadium next Thursday.

“Ideally, we’d like to turn it over a little bit further up the ground and not wait to get it all the way back off them in our defensive 50.

“But if we can force them down the line – they do like to spread out a fair bit from watching them play a little bit – so if we can turn it over and then still spread, we might be able to pick holes through the corridor through them.”

The huge final is set to begin at 8:10pm (AEST) on Thursday, September 5, and you can CLICK HERE for all information regarding the match.