Without being an expert and considering it is the bone healing that is causing the pain. leave it in.
He should be right to play again this year once the bones fuse together better. Having it in when he comes back will just guarentee A: peice of mind and B: that extrra bit of protection in case of any bad luck.
Then he can get it out at the end of the year, should only be 1 or two weeks after it is out to be back to as normal as possible. This way he doesn't lose too much ground and should be ready to fire Rnd 1.
Welcome to oer NBF1 and good on ya holding up the end over in SA