Buckley, 22, was recently delisted by Melbourne after 21 games in three seasons.
Dogged by groin and hip injuries, the midfielder managed just one senior game in 2009.
Buckley said he and manager Alex McDonald had met with North a month ago to discuss training with the club in the lead up to the NAB AFL Draft.
"It's always been a club I was pretty keen to try out," he told afl.com.au.
"I had spoken to a couple of clubs and North Melbourne definitely seems interested."
Buckley, a fourth-round draft pick in 2005, acknowledged his fortunes had soured since the time he was required in a struggling Melbourne side.
He played 14 games in 2008 and finished that season among the Demons' better performers.
"It can change so quickly. Even this time last year I had got into the senior side and I had played some good footy," he said.
"I thought, 'This is alright. I'm going OK here'.
"Fast forward a year and I'm off the list, looking for a new home."
Without the offer of a new contract, Buckley requested a trade.
He said the Demons were unclear in their commitment up until he was cut from the list on October 13.
"The communication wasn't great, to be honest," Buckley said. "They said right up until the day that it happened that they weren't too sure.
"In the end it had to happen that way. It was disappointing but I'm not here to bad-mouth Melbourne. They gave me my first opportunity."
Struggling through last summer, Buckley did enough to be selected for the season opener against the Kangaroos.
However, he came out of that side with a groin strain and, despite making a handful of appearances with VFL affiliate Casey, never earned a recall.
"I tried coming back a couple of times through the VFL but it (the injury) was sort of no good," he said.
"I fixed that up with surgery at the end of the year and hopefully I'll be up and going this year."
Surgery has meant that Buckley won't start running for another four weeks and he understands he will need to shine off the track to convince the club that he's worth taking on.
He spent Friday's session at Arden Street walking laps with Daniel Wells, who is recovering from osteitis pubis and is on a similar program.
"I've just got to work as hard as I can in the gym with the coaches and get everything right," Buckley said.
"If I'm still around then (after the draft), hopefully I can start doing a little bit more and get out there and kick the footy.
"Today is my first day and I seem to be fitting in quite well."
Ex-Sydney Swans midfielder Matthew Laidlaw also trained with the club on Friday.
The 22-year-old made his sole appearance for the Swans in 2007.
