I think he can swim but don't know how well.

Which is pretty much what Kyle Amor did.
Kyle had just over a year left on his contract and was attracting a lot of interest from other clubs who were challenging for honours
He told the club he wouldn’t be signing another contract but would honour his current one or would go immediately if the club could get a transfer fee for him, which we did.

Snowie's right. I'd hate to see TJ leave the club but he has to think about his own career. He won't get international honours on the back of the occasional spectacular game for Trinity. He needs consistency - not Trinity's strong point.

Im just watching St George Illawarra against the Knights, if Johnstone goes to the NRL St George’s stadium is right on the beach. That should suit Johnstone’s needs

I beg to differ.
There is no doubting Tom's ability on the field, he is consistent, and he doesn't score the 'occasional' spectacular try he scores regular spectacular tries!
The consistency that Tom needs is to be injury free for a lengthy time, but it's a result of the fearless way he plays that the injuries occur.
IMO Tom Johnstone is the best winger in SL. Makinson gets lots of praise with Saints, and rightly so, but there's not much between him and Tom - ok I'm biased but I would say Tom has the edge, because I believe he is probably faster than Makinson

Completely agree about Melbourne, Bellamy is the best coach in the game and his record for developing players is outstanding, Tom would flourish under Bellamy. Crucially Tom has that one element that Bellamy loves in his wingers ‘speed’. Just look at how many opportunities they create for their edge finishers.

Some SL stats on wingers

TriesTries per game
Tommy MakinsonMetres
Tommy MakinsonAverage gain
Tommy MakinsonClean Breaks
Tommy Makinson: 14 (highest in the competition from any player)
Tom Johnstone: 11
Greg Eden: 10
Ryan Hall: 10
Adam Swift: 7
Ash Handley: 5
Ken Sio: 5
Matty Russell: 5
Josh Charnley: 5
Jermaine McGillvary: 4
Tom Davies: 3
Liam Marshall: 2

Makinson is a class winger and has been for some time, but the best way to compare is to imagine how good Makinson would look in the various Trinity teams of the past 6/7 years and how good Johnstone would look in a dominant St Helens team. Certainly the stats would be reversed at the least in my view.

Alternately, imagine Johnstone and Makinson in the same team next year

Sell Tom with Murphy an able replacement and use the funds to get Andrew Fifita in next season….

He’s off contract at the end of the year so we’ll get nothing for him. He’s either staying or going, the club will probably know either way by now and will have plans in place for either his stay or departure. If he goes it will be bitter sweet, we’ve never seen him play consistently due to an array of injury issues, which is a shame but I should imagine he’ll be one of our top earners? As a club of our stature can we afford to have one of our highest earner sat in the stands consistently season after season (genuinely no offence to the player, I think he’s the best winger in my time watching, when playing) just saying from a buisness point of view, if he left the money could be used else where ie in the front row. I’ll be happy if he resigns and disappointed if he left but not deflated.

Jesus Christ, good job your not in charge

From a purely selfish point I'd love Tom to stay and just get a bit of luck with injuries and have a season or two free of them...an outstanding player.

On the other hand, from an unselfish point think a move would do him the world of good. Nobody could begrudge him that, he's been extremely loyal when other teams have come knocking in the past.

I know Makinson is getting all the current headlines but as those stats above show TJ has done it in a generally struggling side whereas Makinson is playing in a team that's been dominant for so long...as others have said...Makinson at Wakey for the last 5 years and Johnstone at Saints and TJ would blow his stats out of the water for me...it sounds totally wrong coming from a fan of us but if he was to move I'd actually like to see him go to Saints and really realise his full potential...stay injury free, win things and be a star at International level...he deserves it...