sentences:  However, he bounced back from injury and in 1946 won Victorian selection for the first time and a league newspaper award as the best player of the year.Fitzroy almost lost Ruthven in 1949 after the Imperial Football Club offered him £18 a week to be captain/coach.Although he accepted, becoming one of the highest paid coaches in Victoria, Fitzroy refused him clearance, claiming that Imperial had approached Ruthven after they had denied permission to interview him for the position.