Slightly off topic of the decline in SJRU but a word of advice to parents of "motivated" players not attending Rugby Schools.
Junior Gold Cup Squad will help get your lad "noticed". To get "noticed" to make it to JGC squad, it is very helpful to attend the NSW JRU State Championships at U14 and U15 level.
Not attending these through injury, selection politics, or whatever, can make it very difficult (but not impossible) to get the lads name placed on a clipboard later (at U16 State Champs, U16 Schools Champs, JCG U17's, or Open Schoolboys champs).
To do so the Bolter needs to play significantly better than the incumbent "chosen ones" to get the Scouts to take notice. Human nature will generally favour the incumbent, with excuses like "he's might be injured", "He had an off day", "He's fatigued", "I know what he is capable of" etc being made to justify the line call going the incumbents way.
CHS U16, and CHS Open XV represent a great opportunity for "motivated" players from non-Rugby Schools to get "noticed" into one of the various academies, JGC squads, assisted enrollment to a Rugby Schools, or Colts programme for "development", and many kids have had their start on the treadmill that way.
I hope that the ARU will stick with the JGC as a key development tool, but with their finances the way they are at the moment, and the programme still in its infancy, one never knows.
Don't despair too much, cream will always rise to the top. The harder the journey to the top, the more rewarding it is when the top is finally achieved.
The view over the Megalong Valley is impressive, but the person who has climbed there from the valley floor appreciates it so much more than the person who drove to the signposted viewing platform via the Great Western Highway.