The Newcastle Knights have been awarded $10 million from the NSW Liberal National Government to develop a multi-purpose community sports facility as part of the NSW Government’s NRL Centres of Excellence program.
Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres said the Hunter is one of seven local communities across NSW set to benefit from the recent announcement of $50 million in funding allocated towards Centres of Excellence for NSW NRL clubs.
 
“Centres of Excellence were identified as an important part of the Stadia Strategy in 2012 to maintain the link between high performance sport and community engagement,” Mr Ayres said.
“These centres will provide a pathway for young talented athletes and an additional sport space accessible to the communities that support them - multi-purpose facilities for world-class training and development.
“They also provide NRL Clubs an opportunity to maintain a strong presence in traditional communities as the Government prioritises capital investment into a targeted number of NSW Government venues,” Mr Ayres said.
 
Funding from the NSW Government must be matched dollar for dollar from NRL Clubs and/or third parties. 
Government investment cannot exceed more than 50 per cent of the project costs and each club has been informed of individual conditions required to obtain a funding agreement.
 
Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald MLC said the development of these new centres will bring benefits across the wider Hunter sporting community.
“The Knights Centre of Excellence has been awarded the highest level of funding in NSW” Mr MacDonald said.
“This facility will support the community in multiple ways, and will be utilised by school groups, grassroots sport and Hunter locals for events”.
“The centre's construction is a significant step forward in Council's goal of securing the necessary sporting infrastructure to launch a competitive bid for the Commonwealth Games during the next few years” Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said.