Hammett is stepping into the shoes of head coach Aaron Mauger, who is in Christchurch for family reasons and is not expected to be in Brisbane for the game tomorrow night.
Hammett, who has been head coach for the Hurricanes and the Sunwolves, said there were a few differences being the head coach and an assistant but he had a good team around him.
"We have got a great group and a lot of the coaches of this group have been head coaches and they have a real good awareness of what needs to be done during the week," he said.
"Obviously we are missing Azza [Mauger] because he had got good energy and good spark. We planned for this and knew this was an eventuality."
Cory Brown has taken over the running of the attacking part of the Highlanders' game for this match. He has worked with Mauger for most of the season so it was a seamless transition.
Hammett said the week had been somewhat disruptive but the side had remained focused on the game against the Reds.
The team's All Blacks were at a camp in Auckland at at the start of the week while winger Tevita Nabura left the team after he was sent off in last weekend's game against the Waratahs. Other players joined the squad as the team made changes to take on the Reds in Brisbane.
The disruptions are set to continue with another All Black camp set for Christchurch next week so the side will not come back together until Wednesday at the earliest.
The Highlanders will take on the Hurricanes at Forsyth Barr Stadium on June 1.