North Melbourne coaching search enters final five

North Melbourne has whittled down its coaching race to a maximum of five candidates.

Jaymie Graham will catch up with the Roos later this week in Melbourne, while Nathan Buckley is also committed to the process having shared a coffee with Todd Viney last week.

David Hale and Daniel Giansiracusa, both working at Hawthorn, will also formally present for the role vacated by Alastair Clarkson.

Hale coached Fremantle for one game in 2019 after Ross Lyon was sacked, while Giansiracusa has spent time at the Bulldogs, Essendon and most recently as head of development at the Hawks.

Giansiracusa impressed when he interviewed for North's senior coaching role in late 2020. Alongside Robery Harvey and David Noble, he was part of the final three, with the latter eventually winning the gig.

As part of this process following Rhyce Shaw's resignation, the club also reached out to Jaymie Graham, who at that stage was at West Coast. Graham decided to stay at the Eagles after conversation with North officials.

Brendon Lade and Daniel Pratt, who are both at the Western Bulldogs, plus Troy Chaplin and Corey Enright, were spoken to by the Kangaroos but are no longer part of the process.

It's understood the plan from the start was to reduce the list of candidates to no more than five, to allow all of them to present before narrowing the field further.

It's unclear whether Xavier Clarke, who has impressed colleagues and players in his time at Arden Street, is the fifth candidate.

Clarke recently signed a two-year contract extension and as recently as mid-September was keen to explore the senior job.