Buckley withdraws from North Melbourne coaching race

Nathan Buckley has withdrawn from the North Melbourne coaching race, leaving just four candidates remaining in the race to replace Alastair Clarkson.

Reports from The Age's Sam McClure on Sunday afternoon have stated that the former Collingwood head coach and current Geelong assistant informed the Kangaroos of his decision not to pursue the vacant position.

This comes after North Melbourne officials reportedly informed premiership player and former West Coast head coach Adam Simpson of their desire to pursue a first time coach, after their experiment with Clarkson fell short.

This leaves Daniel Giansiracusa, Jaymie Graham, David Hale and North assistant Xavier Clarke in the mix to win the position, with SEN's Tom Morris confident that Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham is the white-hot favourite.