New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum refused to be drawn into Australia's mind games ahead of their Cricket World Cup clash on Saturday.

Australia openers David Warner and Aaron Finch have both attempted to distract New Zealand ahead of the meeting at Eden Park.

Warner even said McCullum was capable of having a "brain explosion" when batting.

In his media conference on Friday, the Black Caps captain was accepting of that – but is unwilling to be drawn into a public exchange.

"Probably am guilty of a brain explosion," McCullum said.

"You play long enough, you're going to make some people weary at times. I've read most of the reports, as well.

"I think the Australians have been very complimentary of our group. I think there's been some sensationalism in some of, I guess, the reporting of it.

"But yeah, I think they have been very respectful about how they have discussed our team, and we are very much focused on just going out and trying to display our skills and perform as well as what we know we can."

New Zealand are top of Pool A with three wins from as many games ahead of the encounter in Auckland.

Asked about how significant a win would be for either side, McCullum played it down.

"Both teams, I'm sure, are desperate to win tomorrow," he said.

"I think midway through a tournament, to get a significant victory over a very strong side is a huge confidence boost for the group.

"If you lose, as long you go out and you play the game the way that you want to, it's not life or death as such.

"It's just a game of cricket which we are going to try and give everything we possibly can to try and perform. This tournament still has a long way to go.

"Still a lot of pressure games coming up in the next sort of while and tomorrow is one of those. I guess it's nothing more than that."