Canberra Raiders Elliott Whitehead backs State of Origin of Samoa and Tonga stars

The International Rugby League's considering whether the two Rugby League World Cup success stories should remain tier two or be elevated to tier one.

If the latter happened it would mean players like Raiders star Josh Papalii and Samoa captain Junior Paulo would need to choose between representing their ancestry or playing Origin.

That's unless Origin eligibility was also changed.

Samoa became the first tier-two nation to make the World Cup final, which they lost 30-10 to Australia on Sunday, while Tonga made the semi-finals in 2017.

It's led to the IRL considering elevating the pair to tier-one status.

But that could have the flow-on effect of forcing them to choose between Origin and their ancestry.

That would make the decision to represent their heritage a harder one and weaken the international game.

Whitehead wanted the Samoans and Tongans to continue to play Origin.

"If they want to represent their heritage then I don't see why they can't when it comes to international games and still play Origin when it comes to that level as well," he said.

"A lot of those boys have grown up here in Australia and played their junior rugby in NSW or Queensland.

"For me I think they should be able to do both."

Whitehead took part in the Ricky Stuart Foundation golf day at Royal Canberra on Monday, fresh off the plane back from the World Cup.

He starred for England, but it wasn't how he wanted it to end - with a heart-breaking loss to Papalii's Samoa in the semis.

Whitehead will now spend valuable time with his young family - his daughter was just two weeks old when he left for the World Cup - until he returns for pre-season in the New Year.

"It's time for me to have a rest. It's been a long season and I'm sure I'll have a good rest now and after Christmas I'll be looking forward to getting back with the boys," Whitehead said.

"I have a little girl and I didn't really get to spend too much time her - I obviously went straight over to England - so I'm looking to spend as much time as I can with her.

"Hopefully I don't get invited to too many golf days, but this is for a great cause."

The 33-year-old was excited at what next year might bring with Jack Wighton returning from winning the World Cup and the young players continuing their development.

Trey Mooney, Ata Mariota, Brad Schneider and James Schiller all got a taste this year, while Xavier Savage, Sebastian Kris and Matt Timoko all established themselves as NRL players.

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"Jack is a world champion now and he's been one of our best players over the last seven years and I don't think that's going to change," Whitehead said.

"He's matured a lot over the last three or four years and turned into a really good leader.

"We've got a lot of young kids who are going to get their opportunity this year.

"The Trey Mooneys and Ata Mariotas and people like that. Brad Schneider had a few games and he'll be pushing to make a case next year. It's good competition."

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