SIMON Goodwin won't pursue the vacant North Melbourne senior coaching role after being sounded out by the Kangaroos to gauge his interest in the job.

Goodwin, who joined Sydney as its coaching director this season after nine years coaching Melbourne, was contacted by the Roos in recent days to assess his interest in replacing Alastair Clarkson. 

Roos football boss Todd Viney was part of the panel that appointed Goodwin to the senior role at Melbourne as Paul Roos' successor and is understood to have reached out to Goodwin earlier this week about pursuing the job, however Goodwin is not yet ready to get back into a senior role. 

His longer-term ambition remains to return to senior coaching but has yet to reach the stage of putting up his hand, having told Essendon the same thing when the Bombers contacted him about his interest in their vacant role.

It leaves Geelong assistant and former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley as the only other former senior coach who would be in the mix if he was to consider the job. 

The industry sense for some time has been that the Roos are looking to lock in a first-time coach for the job, which has also seen former North premiership players John Longmire and Adam Simpson, both premiership coaches at other clubs, take their names out of the process as well across the past week. 

North Melbourne has started its coaching search to replace Clarkson with phone calls and conversations with possible candidates, with a view to begin formal interviews soon.

Highly rated assistant coaches such as Jayme Graham, who impressed in the Bombers and Carlton coaching searches and came second to Craig McRae in the 2021 Collingwood coach hunt, Daniel Giansiracusa, James Kelly, Murray Davis and Roos assistant Xavier Clarke are all expected to be considered. 

Goodwin coached 192 games for the Demons between 2017-2025, including the club's drought-breaking 2021 flag.