Knights boss Philip Gardner expects the club to enter a side in the NRL Women's league within three years.
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The club's owner, Wests Group, lodged a development application this month with Newcastle council for a new $18 million centre of excellence at Broadmeadow.
Plans for the centre show a large women's locker room and an area set aside for "women's sport admin".
Asked if this meant the Knights were planning for a women's side, Mr Gardner said: "Absolutely. We're expecting in the next three years we'll have a women's team in the national competition."
The women's premiership launched last year with four teams, the Brisbane Broncos, St George Illawarra Dragons, New Zealand Warriors and Sydney Roosters, playing a three-game season during the men's NRL finals series in September.
The Broncos beat the Roosters in the inaugural decider on NRL grand final day.
The Knights expressed an interest in entering a side in the women's premiership when the NRL announced it in December 2017.
Mr Gardner said the timing of the club's entry into the league would depend on how long it took to develop athletes capable of playing at a high level.
"Because it's a collision sport, you need to condition people and bring them through," he said.
"You can't just come out of another sport and play rugby league. We've got to get the athletes up to that standard, and that'll take a while.
"The young men we bring through, we're training them from under-sixes to develop the strength in the neck and those sorts of issues."
The Knights entered a team in the Tarsha Gale Cup NSW under-18 women's competition last year.
The other main development pathway for the region's female players is the Cessnock-based Hunter Stars, who play in the Sydney Metropolitan competition.
"Every single club would like a women's side, so that's 16 sides, but there's certainly not enough athletes at this level," Mr Gardner said.
"Our sport has a lot of attrition, so injuries to knees, shoulders and hips, so you need depth of athletes to stage a competition."
Mr Gardner, who announced recently that the Knights had turned a $1 million profit in 2018, said a women's side could cost up to $1 million to run.
"The Broncos are telling us somewhere from half a million to a million is the cost, but it's not so much the cost. It's having enough athletes."