With the likes of David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh in the batting order, the Australian fast bowling coach wouldn't name names but said they have batsmen just as dangerous as McCullum, who smashed 77 from 25 balls in New Zealand's eight-wicket win over England.
"I can think of four players that play for us who are equally as good," McDermott told the Daily Telegraph.
"So maybe they've got four times the headaches."
New Zealand fans would argue that McCullum is not the only player in their lineup with pure power and a high strike rate. Corey Anderson only up until recently held the record for the quickest one-day ton, Ross Taylor has a 70-ball century to his name and wicketkeeper Luke Rochi hit 170 off 99 balls against Sri Lanka last month. Mitchell McClenaghan is the only player in the New Zealand squad not to have hit an ODI six.
McDermott said his side have nothing to be afraid of and have plans in place for McCullum if he charges.
"There's situations where sometimes you can follow a batsman and situations where you just have to stay on task and bowl what you planned to bowl," he said.
"That's what our guys are prepared to do and we've just got to bowl the best.
"And there's 10 other guys in that team besides Brendon McCullum so we've got to deal with the whole team not just him."
Australian pace bowler Josh Hazlewood yesterday identified the early dismissal of McCullum as the key.
"A lot of the senior guys have seen him do his work in the IPL so we'll have team meetings to discuss a plan," Hazlewood said of McCullum.
"You're hoping he doesn't hit it straight back at you for starters. He's obviously a dangerous player who goes about his business differently to a lot of other openers. But there's no better practice than bowling to Finchy [Aaron Finch] and [David] Warner who are similar players.
"McCullum at the top of order is key. We want to minimise the damage he can do. The boundaries [at Eden Park] are a touch bigger square which we might be use to our advantage. It's quite short straight, but that's what happens when you come to different grounds. There are a few grounds in Australia like this such as [Sydney's] ANZ stadium so you've got to get used to it."
