Bars stopped serving alcohol at 7pm, while a one-way-door policy was later instigated before the pub shut at 10pm - hours earlier than its permitted 3am closing time.
''I was a little bit gutted, but I guess we have another week's trading so we have just got to make sure we manage it better and it doesn't get out of control,'' James Arnott, one of the owners of Cook Brothers Bars, said last night.
Pub management was working closely with police and liquor licensing authorities to ensure its closure on Friday ''goes off without a hitch'', he said.
The decision to close early was made by pub management. At its peak, an estimated 400 people were queuing to get into an already full venue, he said.
''It was extremely popular. You don't know how these things are going to turn out, to be honest. We kind of thought that it was going to be busy, but sometimes it doesn't eventuate, but [Saturday] night was a time when it did eventuate.''
Senior Sergeant Steve Aitken said police were called to the pub ''when it got a little bit out of hand with people trying to get in'', and assisted with shutting down the venue.
A police wagon was parked outside the venue, with several people arrested for minor matters including allegedly breaching the liquor ban.
The pub, which was founded in 1860, will be closed on Friday after the building's owners issued a notice for it to be vacated within 10 working days.
