The off-contract Tedesco played his first minutes in Tigers colours since he was poleaxed by James in round 23 last year, returning to the scene of the crime in Friday night's 18-16 trial loss against the North Queensland Cowboys.

Having endured a horror run with injury throughout his career, which has seen him undergo seven different surgeries, the 24-year-old looked at his menacing best in the Tigers' final hit-out of the preseason.

Even without halves Luke Brooks (dental surgery) and Mitchell Moses (ankle) the Tigers almost got the better of a full-strength Cowboys line up that left Campbelltown Sportsground battered and bruised.

A David Nofoaluma double helped the Tigers to a 16-12 lead late in the second half, however a try to Kane Linnett on the stroke of full time allowed Thurston to slot over the match-winning conversion from the sideline.

But of far greater concern than the result to the visitors was the health of a few of their players.

Antonio Winterstein left the field early in the first half with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury suffered while defending his own line, leaving Javid Bowen and Kalyn Ponga to battle for his position if he is deemed unavailable for their opening round clash against the Raiders.

Winterstein's injury, which required him to be carried from the field, was compounded by a concussion to the Cowboys' other winger, Kyle Feldt, whose night also came to a premature end.

Lachlan Coote's night wasn't cut short by injury but it was hardly the warm up for the season he would have hoped, kicking the ball out on the full twice in a disappointing showing.

Tedesco was given 57 minutes to fine tune his game before their opening round showdown against Robbie Farah and the South Sydney Rabbitohs, busting the line on two occasions in a solid outing for the No.1.

The Wests Tigers have made his contract negotiations the priority out of Brooks, Moses and Aaron Woods, expected to put down an offer in excess of a million dollars a season to retain the NSW custodian.

Uncharacteristic errors for Jason Taumalolo and Johnathan Thurston in the opening minutes set the tone for what was a scrappy encounter.

It was an equally scrappy passage of play that led to the Cowboys' first points, as Michael Morgan relied on a heavenly bounce to pick off a Thurston grubber and score untouched after 18 minutes.

A cross-field kick from Jack Littlejohn, which was fumbled by Thurston, allowed the Tigers to hit back through Nofoaluma.

They then took the lead through Josh Aloiai, who crashed over the top of a rattled Coote to give his side a six point buffer before the Cowboys squared the ledger on the stroke of half time through Ben Hampton.

Nofoaluma's second try wasn't enough to help the Tigers to victory, with Linnett's late four pointer sealing the deal for the Cowboys.