IN WHAT would surely prove the final flourish to what has been a stunning winter season for the North Melbourne Football Club, Ben Buckley now looks a near certainty to take over as that club's chief executive.

The outgoing national soccer boss and former Kangaroos vice-captain is now understood to be strongly considering returning to the fold of his traditional football code, despite seeming no chance to replace Eugene Arocca when North chairman James Brayshaw sacked the latter after a tumultuous 12 months, culminating in a disastrous weekend in Launceston in May.

But the national football landscape has shifted dramatically since then, with every code affected, and what looked to be a significant backward step for Buckley now looms as a brilliant combination of home-coming mixed with one of the greatest challenges in Australian sport. The Kangaroos are doing well but need a headline act and, dare we say it, a boost to their brand.

For North Melbourne, Buckley would be a coup. Acting chief executive Cam Vale has proved a worthy stand-in, but the big signing that Brayshaw wanted and seemed unlikely to get has now stepped forward in a perfect piece of timing. Whether Buckley lost patience with his chairman, Frank Lowy, or vice-versa or a combination of both is not clear but it was time for him to leave the world game and unfortunately for Vale and the other name or two on North's CEO shortlist, the stars have aligned.

Buckley, a former senior AFL executive under Andrew Demetriou, who was headhunted by Lowy, is understood to be departing on an annual salary of $1.3 million. North could not go near that amount but Buckley would not expect any new position to equal his current wage in the current landscape. A move back to the AFL has been mooted but seems unlikely.