He made his international debut when he controlled the second test between Australia and France in Melbourne in mid-July.
Shortly after, he flew home to New Zealand to attend his sister’s wedding.
Then he was off to Japan to officiate at the Olympic sevens tournament.
He refereed six games while in Tokyo, including the semifinal between Argentina and Fiji and the bronze medal match between Argentina and Great Britain.
Now it is just him and an exercycle in a room in a managed isolation facility in Hamilton.
It is a change of pace, and he is looking forward to returning home to Dunedin to catch up with wife Erin and baby son Elijah before his next refereeing comitt-
ment.
It is also an opportunity to reflect on what he has achieved — and there is a lot.
The series between Australia and France was very evenly contested.
Australia won the decider 33-30 in Brisbane.
Doleman was the TMO in the first test, which the Wallabies won 23-21, and stood in the middle for the second, which France won 28-26.
"It was an awesome series to be involved in," Doleman said.
"They were three quality games and it went down to the last game. It is pretty special to have that as a debut."
Doleman had a healthy dose of nerves before his debut.
"You have to embrace the fact that you’ll be nervous.
"People are pretty passionate about rugby.
"You are no longer refereeing two club teams or provincial teams — you are refereeing a team a country supports.
"But the way I like to view nerves is they sharpen your focus."
That focus is often turned towards officials, and sometimes unfairly.
The perception referees are not that accountable ... just does not stack up. Their performance is reviewed every game.
"Most of us get a performance review once a year.
"I remember walking off after the game exhausted just because of how much energy it took to do my best to make sure the teams could decide the game and that I didn’t influence the outcome."
The feedback afterwards was pleasing.
"I was really happy with how I went and they [the review panel] were really happy with how my first test went.
"The public perception is that referees are not accountable but, actually, we are incredibly accountable in our environment. It just does not play out in public."
The Olympics were wonderful but also a bit odd. The empty stadiums made for a "weird experience".
"But to actually be at the Olympics ... it was pretty humbling to go and I was fortunate to be there."
The heat was taxing, though.
"The toughest thing is when you are running around and you are physically exhausted but then have to be mentally switched on to make those decisions."
A referee can cover up to 2.5km during a sevens game, a lot of it at top speed. In 15s, it is 7km-8km.
It is easy to forget just how fit some of the top referees are. All Black Beauden Barrett attracted headlines for his sizzling Bronco time of 4min 12sec last year.
Doleman has clocked 4min 20sec this year. He is not carrying as much weight as professional rugby players but it is a rapid time and highlights just how much work goes into elite refereeing.
