North Queensland prop James Tamou has carried a trusty notebook with him all season. Tamou, who starred for the Cowboys in their one point grand final win, has endless scribbles on the well-worn notepad which was given to him by coach Paul Green during the pre-season. Told to write as much or as little as he wanted, Tamou has filled plenty of pages but perhaps none more important than this message he wrote to himself on the day of Sunday's grand final.

A passionate Tamou read the passage to Fairfax Media moments after his premiership win.

"Jimmy this is the last game of the year. This is it. Nothing else. You've got to start with good line speed. Run hard. Bumpers up and stay square. In the first 10 minutes you'll get fatigued. When you get tired keep pushing, keep running. Keep your feet moving, whether it be kick chase, line speed or tying in. Just keep moving, keep moving, keep moving."

Green introduced the notebooks this year and made them a compulsory addition to team meetings. Players were fined if they did not have their book with them.

Tamou said he had thrived on the initiative.

"It's got everything from round one," Tamou said. "Greeny has given us the pad but I think mine is the most filled up. I think it's a great idea. We will watch video, we just write it in our own words of how we want it.

"Sometimes you get lost in the game because you're so fatigued. I just go back to my notes. I have done it inconsistently in previous years where I have written myself notes but this year I've done it each round. It really has been a revelation. From now on I'll be doing it.

"I read it before the game."

Tamou will keep the book as a memento to pass on to his sons Brooklyn and Barclay.

Green said it was all part of creating a "learning environment".

"Most people don't remember what you tell them five seconds ago," Green said. "We're up there giving them all this information. It's just another way for them to remember it. It was a rule to make sure everyone had their notebook when they came to team meetings.

"As coaches, we put hours and hours and hours of time into getting game plans ready and showing them the stuff they need to see. The onus has got to be on the players. They have to want to get better. Otherwise they just sit there, we're just talking to them and nothing sinks in."

Fullback Lachlan Coote swore by his little book this season. He revealed what he jotted down ahead of his first grand final.

"All their plays and what I had to do in defence and where I had to put my defensive players," Coote said. "Getting my defensive splits right was the most important [point I wrote down]. Brisbane are a good attacking side and if I didn't have the players where they needed to be they would have broken us down.

"I had a brief look at [the book] before every game."