"Something I learned during my days playing for the Te Rapa club in Hamilton while I was at Waikato University is that you are the average of the five people you hang around with the most. At Havelock I am surrounded by some pretty good people," Strong said.
The fact Strong considers himself more of a lock than a loosie adds to the significance of his climb up the leaderboard.
"I've always been reasonably tall so I've played lock most of my life. I only ended up playing as a loosie when we had a run of injuries so I'm lucky to be playing this role."
Last year he played for Otane in the division two competition and the previous year Strong had a spell from rugby. He decided to give the village's premier team a crack as his father, former Hawke's Bay B halfback Barry Strong, played for the side during the 1983 and '84 seasons.
"There's a bit of rivalry between dad and I. I've got to try and do better than him and he always jokes about how lazy forwards can be," Strong said.
While the villagers' long-time statistician Conrad Waitoa believed Strong had "future Magpie" written all over him, the former sport and leisure degree student who works as an apprentice carpenter for Infinite Building Solutions politely declined to look that far ahead.
"When it comes to rep team selections those are someone else's decisions."
"I play for the enjoyment ... to enjoy the company of the players I play with. At the same time I like to push myself."
Strong is looking forward to Saturday's round two clash against Ansin & Monteith Hastings Rugby and Sports at Elwood Park.
"Hastings have gone very well in recent weeks. They've got a few attacking threats and a good set piece ... it will be another close one which will be decided during the final 10 or 15 minutes."
He is grateful for the coaching he received from Steve Lloyd and Grant Gilbert at Lindisfarne as well as former lock Ben Paurini at the Te Rapa club. There's no doubt the physical labour associated with his job prepares him well for the rigours of premier club rugby.
As Waitoa said, Strong is a bloke worth keeping an eye on.
Strong said Saturday's game would be close, particularly if the expected wet weather arrived - nothing more than a seven-point win either way.
In other games, Tanalised Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports should beat MAC by nine at Tamatea Park, Carters Frame and Truss Taradale should beat Tamatea by 11 at Bill Mathewson Park, defending champions Hawke's Bay Insurances Limited Napier Old Boys Marist should beat Northfuels Central by 19 at Park Island and Altherm Window Systems Napier Technical should beat K9 Petfoods Clive by nine at Whitmore Park.
Best & fairest
■ Havelock North v Tamatea: 3, Jonty Strong (Havelock); 2, Eugene Sandiland (Tamatea); 1, Taylar Greville (Havelock).
■ Tech v Taradale: 3, Vinny Guildford (Tech); 2, Andrew Gardner (Taradale); 1, Conan Houkamau (Tech).
■ NOBM v MAC: 3, Mike King (NOBM); 2, Ricky Hayes (NOBM); 1, Paul Bickle (NOBM).
■ Clive v Pirate: 3, Dusky Pineaha (Clive); 2, Aaron McPhee (Pirate); 1, Tama Cahill (Pirate).
■ Hastings v Central: 3, Jacob Devery (Hastings); 2, Jayden Rihia (Hastings); 1, Hamish Carroll (Central).
Leaderboard: 9 points: Isaiah Martin, Kaleb Sweet (both Tech), Fale Matamata (Hastings), Jonty Strong (Havelock). 8: Jesse Paewai (Havelock). 7: Cole Eru (Central). 6: Tom Bywater (NOBM), Lucas Goodin (Clive), Hayden Hann (Pirate), Tomo Fogarty (Central), Billy Ropiha, Jacob Baker (both Taradale). 5: Chris Johnston, Craig Sharplin, Ricky Hayes (all NOBM), Mason Kean (Tamatea), Ted Walters (Tech), Wayne Lush (Havelock).
