On Sunday, they will be direct opponents as Turner looks to notch a first Super Netball win over her former teammate, who now plies her trade for the Sunshine Coast Lightning.

Turner lived with Wood and former New Zealand superstar Laura Langman during her first season at the Swifts in 2016, the trio falling narrowly short of ANZ Championship glory in a double extra-time grand final thriller against the Queensland Firebirds.

They called themselves the "Watkin wolfpack" and became close friends, an unlikely trio drawn from South Australia, Queensland and New Zealand who all ended up at the Swifts.

But it only lasted for one year.

Wood and Langman were part of the mass exodus from the Sydney club following that grand final loss and the pair played integral roles in the Lightning's inaugural Super Netball premiership-winning team.

"Her winning it [the title] made me want it more," Turner said. "Just seeing how happy she was and the rest of the team was.

"It was a pretty cool experience, to get all the way to the grand final [in 2016] and to live with the girls. I just can't even describe it in words.

"I want it so bad to happen with this team and to go all the way this time and not just fall short."

A win over the Lightning at the Qudos Bank Arena would be just the result to prove the fourth-placed Swifts are contenders this year.

Langman quit the sport indefinitely during the off-season and the Sunshine Coast began the year poorly, but three wins on the bounce suggests they've turned a corner and are ready to defend their title.

In Wood they boast not only one of the league's best long-range shooters, but a playmaking goal attack who often adds another element to the Lightning's mid court to help feed the ball to her Australian Diamonds teammate Caitlin Bassett.

"She's definitely their playmaker and the smartest player on the court for them and sets up a lot of their play," Turner said.

"She loves a long shot and I guess with Bass under the ring you've got confidence if you're going to miss you've got a rebound. Making her take those long shots towards the end of the game is going to be critical, and not letting her get close to the post when she does her little run and skip into the change of pace which she does really well.

"To shut her down, it's a hard task, but if you can shut her down it disrupts her flow and their front end definitely.

"We probably would've liked to play them earlier in the season – they've definitely found their form. They did this last year as well, they had a slow start and then came firing all the way to the end, so we've definitely got to be careful.

"It depends who shows up on the day, and home court advantage is massive at the moment, so I reckon that'll be critical at Qudos."

One thing is for certain: if anyone knows how to get under Wood's skin, it's Turner.

"When she was living here we just had a great time, we were like sisters; sometimes we'd fight, but it was fun," Turner said.

"I loved stirring her up. I'm pretty easy-going. There was one time she took a whole week to try and make me angry and she got even angrier because I didn't react to anything.

"I didn't even notice, but she noticed and she was getting so mad because I wasn't reacting. At the end of the week she was like, 'I even tried to make you angry this week and it didn't work'."