Agree with you entirely here Mum,
Having seen the progression of the NSW country team from u14's to what it is now, it is a damn sight worse now than it was 3 years ago.
Seems as though many boys have shifted towards Sydney Independent Schooling with the hopes of furthering their rugby. Much of the cream from the Country 17's age group left in the last 2 years, with the GPS gaining players such as Callum Styles (Scots), Kurtis Crisante (View), Jono Burke (Kings) and players such as John Walker heading to the ISA (Augustines). (obviously more have changed)
That being said, as far as I know, team lists here:
http://juniors.rugby.com.au/Representative.aspx indicate that Sydney Juniors may not be as strong as previous years either? correct me if wrong, but i believe this is due to a strong presence of GPS u17's boys in NSW teams?