The season's leading A-League goalscorer said the turning point in his season was his clash with linesman Alex Glasgow in the round seven game against Central Coast Mariners.

Griffiths smacked the officials in the groin in fury after missing out on a call - but escaped with only a yellow card instead of facing a possible lengthy ban.

In desperation to calm himself down, he even sought out medical help after the incident to put his career back on track.

Now Griffiths has claimed the moment of madness came out of frustration at missing out on the captain's armband for Newcastle.

"The turning point was the incident with the linesman," he told Sydney's Daily Telegraph. "I was struggling to deal with these issues and it showed with the flick of the linesman.

"It was pretty embarrassing, but things happen for a reason and that pulled me in a little bit.

"A lot of people pulled my head in - my wife, my mum, the nan, friends, supporters, the CEO (John Tsatsimas).

"There was a lot said, I even went to see a doctor. I knew what I did was silly and I brought the game into disrepute and I regret it."

But Griffiths also revealed he very nearly walked away from the club which now has a chance to make it into their first Grand Final if they can get past Queensland Roar on Sunday.

And he admitted he went AWOL from the club in the wake of Jade North being given the skipper's role, with only his brother Adam bringing him back to his senses.

"One thing that really hurt me was not being captain, it pissed me off a lot," said Griffiths. "To be so close to Gary and not be given it when he did mention it to me, made me say, 'I don't want to play for this club'.

"I didn't go to training for a week, I didn't go to the photo session. I was asking for a transfer release.

"No one could get in contact with me. Then Adam just said to me, 'stop being a dickhead. I came all the way from Europe to play with you.'

"I thought I was mature enough to be the captain. But looking back, it's probably made me play better. I've taken more responsibility, even without having the armband.

"Now I couldn't care less - I probably wouldn't be a good captain anyway."

He added: "I'm totally past it. When I go on the field, if it's a bad tackle, fair enough, and I try and get under the skin of defenders," he said.

"This season I haven't set out to hurt someone. In the past I probably have.

"Now I try and zone out a little bit more in games and just try and do the little things instead of getting caught up in the moment. I just try and get on with my football."