It was already difficult terrain for a head coach and general manager to negotiate in his first season in town.

No stadium to call the Hamilton Ticats' own or call anything else except "past tense"; uncertainty until the 10th hour about training camp and season-long practice facilities; a carry-over .333 winning percentage that will not go away until the 2013 CFL team makes it go away; a certain percentage of the hard-core fan base upset about Guelph and everything it stands for.

And now this.

Chris Williams descending from MOP to AWOL.

This was not unexpected but there is a difference between anticipation and the cold sting of reality. Day 1 of training camp has come and gone, and Williams didn't come. He's just gone.

His absence was a cloud over training camp darker than the cumulonimbus masses that threatened to drown out practice, but never came close. And it appears Kent Austin and the Ticat players want the same kind of effect from the Williams' cloud. "OK, it's there, but it cannot dampen us."

The players were generally of the acquired professional attitude that the 16-touchdown machine's return would be a lovely bonus but that time and team goes on without him. But these are also teammates who have always liked the upbeat guy (and the points and field position he brought them) and who are, in the end, labour not management. They know and probably empathize with Williams' attempt to maximize what is an extremely narrow window for pro football players to earn bigger money.

This is Austin's first public test and he made it obvious how he was going to write it.

Austin has suspended Williams and he has not discussed Williams with his team because, after what was by all accounts a positive and motivating welcoming address to his players, he wasn't going to refocus on any negative. The concept cannot be dissected any further than this: you come to the field and give us your best or you do not exist.

Part of Austin's coaching, and human, portfolio is warm encouragement. Several players noted it immediately Sunday and veterans were ecstatic to hear during his camp preamble that he and his staff planned to coach "up," rather than down.

"A whole different vibe," is how one put it.

But there was anger in Austin's delivery Sunday as he discussed the only thing anyone not in uniform really wanted to discuss. He drew a line in the sand and suggested that if Williams does lose his arbitration case - which Austin and the team fully expect - and wants to return to Hamilton, it won't be as simple as just showing up and reclaiming No. 80. In pro sport, there is a price for every action and Williams will pay one . if only in the form of the appropriate mea culpas. It appeared particularly galling to Austin that Williams had not personally informed the team he would not be at Mac.

We suspect there will be no more extended discussions on the matter unless and until Williams shows up. "He is not here. Next question."

A Ticat future without Williams cannot possibly be massaged into something on the good side of the balance sheet. This might still be a multi-tiered offence but last year he was not only the ignitor, but the finisher. He was the one who scared the right people: the opposing defensive co-ordinators. His offensive output was the equivalent of a 70-goal NHL season, his on-field magnetism the equivalent of the stretch run at the Derby.

Yet, in the subtly heightened atmosphere of the Ticats' first day on the job, the only two negatives could also be viewed from another angle.

Yes, the Cats were on the secondary football field because the Ironmen had booked Ron Joyce Stadium for their three homeowners, highlighting the lateness of the Cats' reunion with the Mac folks. But, the fields are of roughly the same calibre and there was massive symbolism in what was essentially a local football festival: the top young players in the city side by each with the top professional players in the city, on the grounds of the currently most successful university football program in the province.

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And, although every single Tiger-Cat, except the one who will make it because Williams doesn't, would prefer to have the returner/receiver in camp rather than in limbo, his absence afforded the team and the public a deeper look into Austin's principles and priorities sooner than expected. And it's clear that, as positive a personality as he is, he does not pussyfoot on key issues and will not let anything, even the most dynamic player, overshadow the team and its larger needs.

A major test like this, with so many tough essay questions, cannot be passed on a single day. But Austin came as close as he could.