He gets the same buzz approaching a big test — but never so much it clouds his judgement, as he knows his career will not last long if he does not match excitement with a cool head in the middle.
"There are always nerves as you get closer to a game.
"I think that shows how much it means," Doleman said.
"When you go into a big game, you have an understanding of how important it is to the players, and to the fans, and to the countries.
"That’s what excites me.
"There’s that natural pressure in the environment because people care."
It will not be long before Doleman returns to that high-pressure environment.
He has enjoyed a couple of months of family time at home but is now heading north for a couple of Six Nations fixtures.
Doleman is an assistant referee for the Ireland-England clash in Dublin and will be in the middle for a juicy Scotland-Ireland test at Murrayfield.
He has been to both venues before and has been an assistant referee at Murrayfield and controlled an Edinburgh club game on the outer oval.
"It’s one of my favourite venues, and Edinburgh in general is one of the best cities in the world."
It will be the third straight year Doleman has been given the nod for some Six Nations officiating.
The tournament was an invigorating experience as the stadiums all offered special atmospheres and the crowds tended to have split loyalties and were loud, he said.
After missing his initial Six Nations appointment due to Covid, he made his debut in the England-Italy test at Twickenham in 2023 and will never forget it.
"It was pretty special.
"The atmosphere at Twickenham ... it’s one of the great stadiums in the world.
"Match day there is pretty special when you walk through the concourse and everyone is already there.
"I remember the passion and the songs more than I remember the game."
Doleman, 33, made his first-class refereeing debut in 2014, turned professional in late 2019 after a spell employed by the Otago union and has stood in the middle in 13 tests since his debut in the Wallabies-France clash in Melbourne in 2021.
He is loving the life as an elite whistleblower.
"It’s just the opportunities. You get to meet people from all around the world. There’s good people in refereeing and around rugby everywhere you go.
"I’m doing something that I would do for free, and getting paid for it, which is amazing.
"I know how fortunate I am to be in that position."
There are potential downsides. It is a demanding enough job before you consider the immense scrutiny and pressure applied on referees by disgruntled fans and coaches.
Doleman said a huge part of learning to be a top referee was mental skills development.
"We do a lot of work around understanding who we are, and how to deal with pressure, and what your automatic responses are when you are put under pressure.
"It’s about addressing that and understanding how it will impact my decision-making and performance, and putting strategies in place to deal with that.
"We’ve got resources in place to help us through that."
Rugby laws are constantly being tweaked — and a challenge for referees is that sometimes they vary between competitions.
Doleman is a fan of the greater protections for the attacking halfback, which makes ball delivery cleaner as defending sides cannot be so niggly, and pleased teams can no longer choose to scrum from a free kick.
"All the initiatives I like are the ones that will speed up the game.
"I’d love a chance to get more fatigue in the game, which would hopefully open up some space for players to play."
Doleman has again spent a chunk of the summer training with the Highlanders as part of a New Zealand Rugby scheme to attach one referee to each club.
He provides his expertise to the team while he gets opportunities to develop and train.
After his Six Nations commitments — after which the keen golfer is hoping to sneak in a round at St Andrew’s — he has got six rounds of action in Super Rugby before finding out his appointments for the July test window.
There is a Lions series just across the Ditch but Doleman is focused only on the next game and performing the best he can.
