First look: Knights $20m Centre of Excellence revealed

It's a $20 million Centre of Excellence set to rival any sporting code and it belongs to the nib Newcastle Knights.

The NSW Government has contributed $10 million towards the centre, matching the $10 million put up by Knights owners Wests Group.

Knights Chief Executive Officer, Phillip Gardner, believes the facility will be the envy of every sporting organisation in the country.

"I have to applaud the state government for investing their money in Newcastle," Mr Gardner said.

"Many, many times Newcastle has been overlooked (but) this time we haven't been.

"We'll get as good a facility as anybody in the game has.

"We'll be able to compete with the top four clubs. The Broncos will be envious of what we have in Newcastle, that's our goal."

The state-of-the art facility will foster rugby league at every level.

With three new training field and a multi-purpose facility, the Knights will bring their entire operation into once base.

Aside from the Knights, funding has been approved for another four New South Wales based NRL teams – the Bulldogs, Rabbitohs, Roosters and Sharks.

"The new Centre for Excellence will be the first high-performance rugby league training facility between Sydney and the Gold Coast," Minister for Sport, Stuart Ayres said.

"For the first time ever, players will have a pre-game warm up area."