A simple question, with a very complex answer.
In brief not enough resources went to grass roots development when there were green shoots - particularly in growth areas of Sydney. Too much emphasis on the elite professional game and not enough thought given to the base. The base has now shrunk below critical mass and junior club rugby is unable to sustain as many competitions and clubs as it once did. The impact of this last point is that the administration of the juniors falls to a very narrow group, many of whom a have a barrow to push and have no particular interest in growing things beyond their own short term goal.
Collapse is local juniors means that those boys who used to play club rugby on Saturdays and state school rugby on Wednesdays aren't there anymore in sufficient numbers to run teams. The number of rugby aligned teachers in the state system has also fallen, as those long serving coaches retire, get promoted away from school level or have run out of energy. Whre private school recruiting impact here is that in those few state schools which still play rugby, if you take out the 2 or 3 best players then the team collapses. If a sport doesn't run at a state school for a couple of years it is usually replaced by another sport and is very difficult to get rugby back in those instances.
