Our major football codes are the canaries in the coal mine for hundreds of industries desperate to restart as soon as possible after the Government-enforced lockdown. If organisations with the size and influence of the Australian Football League and the National Rugby League cannot soon navigate a path back to profitable operations there is little hope for smaller businesses and their harried representatives in trade and industry associations. 

For better or worse success will require an infusion of expertise from HSE, risk, compliance and process-minded managers – all the backrooms specialities called into being by a risk-averse society and bureaucratisation of corporate life. 

Last...