Victory at Wellington Regional Stadium would be a remarkable turnaround from seven days ago when they were hammered 47-29 by an All Blacks side that built pressure, took what opportunities they had and shut down the Wallabies attack.
The former Wallabies prop has given his young team the opportunity to redeem themselves on Saturday (kickoff 0735 GMT)with only one enforced change at blindside flanker where Scott Fardy comes in for the injured Hugh McMeniman.
"I'm angry about last week," McKenzie told reporters in Wellington on Thursday.
"I played plenty of games and I don't suffer losing ...you have to have that (head) space for your own personal performance.
"You're getting an opportunity to play against the most consistent team in the world and that's how you benchmark yourself.
"If you come up short and you're a competitive guy then you have to say 'what am I going to do about that?'."
The opening match of the Rugby Championship last week had promised much for the Wallabies with a new coach in McKenzie and a sense they could knock over an All Blacks side without the world's leading points scorer Daniel Carter.
The All Blacks, however, barely skipped a beat and Carter's stand-in at flyhalf, Aaron Cruden, produced a man-of-the match performance before suffering a knee injury that has ruled him out for this week.
With third-choice flyhalf Beauden Barrett sustaining a calf injury, New Zealand coach Steve Hansen was forced to go outside his initial 28-man squad this week and give the pivotal role to debutant Tom Taylor.
After Cruden's display last week, though, McKenzie was reluctant to suggest that might be a weakness to exploit on Saturday.
"We all know how well he has played in Super Rugby so they're giving him a go," McKenzie said.
"He will be pretty determined. He's in good company, around guys who know what is going on."
SETTLED SIDE
The All Blacks appear relatively settled in their selections with lock Brodie Retallick coming in for the injured Luke Romano having showed last week as a replacement that Hansen could pick any two of three locks and not lose any impact.
Hansen expects his side to build on their performance in Sydney and has given players like blindside flanker Steven Luatua another chance to impress after his standout first start last week when Liam Messam was a late injury withdrawal.
The former Wales coach, however, was mindful the Wallabies would be more dangerous after a further week together.
They have, as McKenzie pointed out, redemption on their minds, while the Bledisloe Cup is still on the line as they chase their first win in New Zealand since they recorded a 23-15 victory at Carisbrook in 2001.
"They're obviously going to be more dangerous," Hansen said.
"The mentality would be that we have to go out and prove a point and that's what we expect them to do.
"We just have to go out and play smart again and have a preparation that allows us to show up on Saturday with an intensity and focus that allows us to get the job done."
New Zealand: 15-Israel Dagg, 14-Ben Smith, 13-Conrad Smith, 12-Ma'a Nonu, 11-Julian Savea, 10-Tom Taylor, 9-Aaron Smith, 8-Kieran Read, 7-Richie McCaw (captain), 6-Steven Luatua, 5-Sam Whitelock, 4-Brodie Retallick, 3-Owen Franks, 2-Andrew Hore, 1-Tony Woodcock
Replacements: 16-Dane Coles, 17-Wyatt Crockett, 18-Charlie Faumuina, 19-Jeremy Thrush, 20-Sam Cane, 21-Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22-Colin Slade, 23-Charles Piutau.
Australia: 15-Jesse Mogg, 14-Israel Folau, 13-Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12-Christian Leali'ifano, 11-James O'Connor, 10-Matt Toomua, 9-Will Genia, 8-Ben Mowen, 7-Michael Hooper, 6-Scott Fardy, 5-James Horwill (captain), Rob Simmons, 3-Ben Alexander, 2-Stephen Moore, 1-James Slipper
Replacements: 16-Saia Fainga'a, 17-Scott Sio, 18-Sekope Kepu, 19-Kane Douglas, 20-Liam Gill, 21-Nic White, 22-Quade Cooper, 23-Tevita Kuridrani
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
(Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
