It would be my opinion that the old style of drinking bans, training all year, games every few months sporadically and no set calendar did far more harm to the young people wanting to play than the current structure.
The idea that a fella knows that he starts training in feb has everyone second week off during the league to go out and have his pints with June almost a free month for holidays and then back home for business then for 4-6 weeks before championship is way more attractive to the modern young lad than that old regimental style