Dockary said it was too early to gauge the impact of former All Black Victor Vito's recent undercover expose of referee abuse. Earlier this month, Vito refereed a junior game in disguise to gauge the abuse levels.
Dockary was a spectator at Saturday's premier game between Hastings Rugby and Sports and Napier Old Boys Marist at Elwood Park.
"Overall all the spectators were pretty well behaved. It could have been the wet weather or the fact it was the Hastings club's 21st birthday. Wellington referee Nick Hogan did a top job, too."
While Dockary refused to single out clubs, he said the coaching staff and spectators associated with one premier side were being monitored closely.
"The spectators and coaches involved tend to get stuck into the assistant referees because they are close to them. We still find coaches and spectators still don't fully understand the role of the assistant referees. Although they are wired up to the man in the middle, there are boundaries to what they can rule on.
"Their primary duties are clear and they do those. Spectators might have a concern related to play going on 50m away and that is being dealt with by the other assistant referee and referee."
Dockary was the victim of one of the Bay's most severe cases of referee abuse. In 2009, as an assistant referee, he made a split decision call without the assistance of a television match official which saw him incorrectly rule Magpies prop Sona Taumalolo had been forced into touch before scoring a try which would have secured a draw - had it been converted - in a 27-20 loss to Canterbury at Napier's McLean Park.
During the week after the match Dockary's house was bombarded with eggs and family members verbally abused.
The deck of his Havelock North home had to be re-stained and the garage door repainted after the egg attack. Dockary spent three months re-evaluating his future as a referee before deciding to continue.
Hawke's Bay Rugby Football Union's club development officer Gary Macdonald disagreed with Dockary, saying last year was the worse for sideline abuse during his five seasons in the role. "Last year was quite serious and there has definitely been an improvement."
Macdonald believed the union's three strikes system used for ground control was having an impact.
"One club is on two strikes but hasn't missed a beat since them. The last thing I want to do is take home games away from clubs," Macdonald stressed.
"I watch a lot of games during a season and I haven't heard too much abuse this season. There's a fine line between yelling loud criticism to being obnoxious or to being abusive. It can be crossed."
Macdonald said a called-off second division game between Aotea and Porangahau at Dannevirke on Saturday will be the subject of a judicial hearing tomorrow night. It was a niggly encounter and referee Graeme Fisher told Macdonald he had had enough and blew the fulltime whistle with 18 minutes remaining.
His union has also introduced a ruling in an attempt to improve sideline behaviour at junior level. Coaches, managers and reserves from 10th to 12th grade teams must stand behind the deadball lines while games are in progress.
Hawke's Bay Intercity JAB chairman Nigel Stilwell said the ruling was mandatory from last weekend but several coaches had trialled it since the start of the season.
"The decision was made by the Hawke's Bay union so we have to go with it. I haven't received any feedback, positive or negative since the weekend but I know not everyone was in favour of it when the directive went out. But at least with it being mandatory everyone is on the same playing field."
Former All Black captain Taine Randell, who is a union director, is a 12th grade coach with the MAC club this season.
"I was there when the decision was made and to be fair I was against it at the start because I've never enjoyed watching games from the end of the field," Randell recalled.
"We've done it every game. I've spoken to other coaches and I've become quite a big fan of it. Coaches tend to be the wind-up merchants and it does lessen the tension ... if coaches get wound up, parents and players will follow," Randell explained.
"Over the years I've seen the opposite side and I'm now fully in favour of the move," he added.
