I'm not a Union follower at all, but I've got quite a few mates who do.
One is a mad West Harbour Pirates fan. He doesn't really give a shit about the Tahs but watches the Wallabies as well.
He says it's so hard to keep the best young rugby kids in Australia. The Pirates will sign a young bloke who turns out to be very good, who then gets snapped up to go over and play in France, SA, Japan or the UK. They get more money over there, and it's a great opportunity for a young bloke to go play overseas. They aren't hanging around to play for the Waratahs, Reds, etc, and then move up to the Wallabies from there.
Union is broke and they can't afford to throw money at the grassroots level to keep the kids here. Also the ratings are way down (that happens when you aren't on free-to-air). Interest in the Wallabies is dropping massively as well because they are just no good.
Union in this country is on life support. It is hard to see Australia ever becoming a Union superpower ever again.
Buying up a few NRL players is not going to help.