NFL FANS might be familiar with a sideline interview given by veteran wide receiver Cooper Kupp in 2021 when the former LA Rams star unloaded 12 seconds of pure set play jargon that would have been inaccessible for almost anybody outside his team's inner sanctum.

Terms like 'fire zone' and 'nickel off the edge' were rattled off in a rapid-fire answer about a game that is essentially one set play after another for 60 match minutes. 

The moment was relived recently by Kupp's former teammate Matthew Stafford in an interview on the Kelce brothers' New Heights podcast, with the quarterback revealing that the media-shy Kupp went deep into strategy as a way to end the interview as quickly as possible. 

But it also gave a glimpse into the highly planned side of American football that contrasts heavily with the chaos and chance of Australian football.

There are set plays in the AFL that are gaining traction, however, as best illustrated by James Sicily's kick-in play against Essendon in round one, or Zach Merrett's match-winning centre clearance against Fremantle late last season. 

Coaches and players spoken to by AFL.com.au said set plays where everyone was on the same page were executed primarily in the AFL from kick-ins and centre bounce stoppages but were frequently abandoned given the chaos of the game. 

It makes them hard to detect for the average fan, unless they run perfectly. 

"Those two (kick-ins and centre bounces) are the ones where you've got the most time to talk and communicate about set plays," one coach told AFL.com.au.

"So if it's there, you can take it. But if it's not, you can't be wedded to it." 

Sicily demonstrated what can happen if everything goes right in the Hawks’ round one win against Essendon, using a fourth-quarter kick-in to send Jarman Impey into space while all other players were bunched into a third of the ground. 

The play ended with the hard-running Connor Macdonald, who burst into the created space and slotted his set shot. It was the most recent example of a play the Hawks have clearly perfected. 

A goal like Hawthorn's remains a rarity, however, with an average of 1.2 'coast-to-coast' goals a game from kick-ins last season and 1.4 so far in 2025.  

Port Adelaide scored a season-high 4.2 from kick-ins last season against West Coast in round one, while Greater Western Sydney has the best result so far this year with 3.1 against Collingwood in Opening Round. 

Coaches – as many Hawthorn fans probably would be – were aware of the Hawks' kick-in plan, which is made possible by a kicker in Sicily who can pinpoint his target, and a group of elite high forwards who can beat their opponents into space when it is there. 

The challenge of pulling off that sort of move from a kick-in, according to players, can be the noise of a crowd and getting all 18 players on the same page quickly. 

Sometimes, they'll be executed among a few players who use "a wink and a nudge" if they see the space available to try a set play.

Another example raised by coaches was Essendon's centre bounce setup in round 21 last season, creating space for Merrett on his left side and ending with a match-winning score against Fremantle. 

It was the type of set play that coaches said they were aware of with the Bombers, but the challenge of playing a gruelling game for more than 120 minutes can mean structures slip late in games. 

A stoppage set play, one midfielder said, can be much more rigid and easy to execute compared to a kick-in, given there are fewer players involved and they are practised frequently. 

They will have names, and one player will call the play, but like kick-ins the chaos of the game means it is on each player to decide whether to follow through with the plan as circumstances change. 

"We all understand our roles around stoppage and how we want to execute it, so it's a bit more structured in a way and a bit more controlled," the midfielder said.  

"So there's plays that we will definitely try and implement, but it's very much on the guy with the ball to make that decision on whether it's the option or not."

The process of learning and implementing a set play at AFL level can be completed within a week, one coach said, using a variety of teaching tools. 

The play might be drawn up in response to forward scouting about that week's opponent, and players will be shown vision and talked through the plan. Then they will complete walk-throughs on a mock oval before the plan is executed in training. 

Teams were responding to what the Hawks were doing, and pushing into new areas with their own kick-in plays, but they would remain a challenge for younger teams or teams without a highly skilled kicker in the backline. 

It's a small but interesting part of the game where any goals are viewed as a bonus and territory is the primary aim.