What PD said. I had a huge haul of 60+ year old, 12+ inch diameter logs that had been in a field for 60 years, then in a barn for 2 years. After cleaning the inch or so of crap off of the staves and sealing the backs, I still had a couple develop checks. The only way I could prevent it was to use a ridiculous amount of poly or use some TBIII.
Take the extra 2 minutes and pennies it costs to seal it properly, otherwise you risk having to chase rings again, or worse, possibly ruining the stave.