THE BRISBANE Lions' off-season recruitment of six experienced players has left the side believing that ultimate success is close, according to Matthew Leuenberger.

The Lions went on a shopping spree in last year's trade period, picking up Amon Buchanan (Sydney Swans), Brent Staker (West Coast), Xavier Clarke (St Kilda), Andrew Raines (Richmond), and Brendan Fevola (Carlton).

Former Saint Matt Maguire was also added by way of the NAB AFL Draft.

Leuenberger, 22, said the recruiting mindset had sent the players a clear message regarding the Lions' current position.

"There's no way the coaches would have done the recruiting they did if they didn't think we were capable of pushing for a premiership," he told afl.com.au.

"Certainly, that's what we're aiming for. When we talk about our goals, we want to be the best and measure ourselves against the elite teams of the AFL.

"We've certainly got that in our mind at the moment."

Leuenberger, who is enjoying a full pre-season after overcoming the knee injury that wrecked his 2009 campaign, says the new recruits have already shown why Michael Voss targeted them.

"Matt is looking really good and he could really help out down at centre half-back, which would be very valuable for us," he said.

"Amon has proved to be a great player at Sydney and played in the premiership there. He's been a great addition, same with the likes of Brent, who has had a great pre-season.

"Andrew and Xavier have got fantastic personalities and have proven themselves in their AFL careers so far.

"It's pretty exciting to add players of that calibre and see where we can take them."

Matt Maguire a $412,000 defender in this year's Toyota AFL Dream Team.