me gear box

Hi, theres normally quite a lot of play in a mk1 gear stick,  but over last few weeks mines got worse. Took it into the garage and was told it was the bush selector rod thingys - but i got them replaced about 12 months ago, could it be same thing again - anything else simple i can check first??

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Remove the gearstick gaitor and check if the screws that hold  the plate to the floorpan have come loose and thus allowing the whole stick assembly to float about.